} 


CIHM 
Microfiche 
Series 
(IMonographs) 


ICIMH 

Collection  de 
microfiches 
(monographies) 


Canadian  *natituta  for  Historical  Microroproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  da  microraproductions  historiquos 


1994 


TMtinical  and  Bibliofraphk  NetM  /  NelM  itchniquM  wl  MMiesrapMqiiM 


TiM  ImtituM  hM  atumptMl  to  obuin  tht  bttt  original 
oopv  arailabia  for  f ilmins.  Faaturai  of  thit  copy  which 
may  ba  MMioflraphically  Mniqut,  which  may  altar  any 
of  tha  imagat  in  tha  raproduction,  or  which  may 
lignificantly  changt  tha  usual  mathod  of  filming,  ara 
chadiad  halow. 


L'liMtitui  a  mierof  iJm4  la  maillaur  aaamplaira  ^u'il 
hii  a  M  poniMa  da  M  procurar.  Las  dAuili  da  cat 
aumplaira  qui  lont  paut4tra  uniquai  du  point  da  «ua 
biMiographiqua,  qui  pauvant  modif  iar  una  imaga 
raproduitt.  ou  qui  pauvant  axigar  una  modification 
dam  la  mAthoda  normala  da  f  ilmaga  aent  indiqute 


□  Colourad  eovari/ 
Couvartura  da  aoulaur 

□  Covari  damagad/ 
Couvartura  andommagia 

□  Cowan  mtorad  and/or  laminatad/ 
Couvartura  rattaurit  at/ou  palliculta 

□  Cevar  titia  mining/ 
La  titra  da  eouvartura  manqua 

□  Colourad  mapi/ 
Canaa  gtographiquat  an  coulaur 

G  Colourad  ink  (i.a.  odiar  than  Wua  or  Mack)/ 
Encra  da  aoulaur  |i^.  autra  qua  Maua  ou  noira) 

□  Colourad  platas  and/or  illustrations/ 
Pianchas  at/ou  iiknuations  an  aoulaur 

□  Bound  with  othar  matarial/ 
Raiii  avac  d'autras  documants 

□  Tight  binding  may  causa  shadows  or  distortion 
•long  intarior  margin/ 

La  raliura  sarria  paut  causar  da  I'ombra  ou  da  la 
distarsion  la  long  da  la  margi  intMaura 


□  Blank  laavat  addad  during  natoTMion  may 
ivHhbitfiatairt.  Whanavar  ponibla, 


II  sa  paut  qua  aartainas  pagas 
Ion  d'una  rastauration  apparaisiant 
maia,  ioraqua  oato  taitpoisibla.  «ai 


lai 
n'ont 


□  Colourad  pagas/ 
Pagasdai 


r~~|  NgM  daanagad/ 


□  ftgas  rastorad  and/or  laminatad/ 
fagas  lastauitas  at/au  palliaultas 


0 


□  Pagas  datachad/ 
ragasdtocbtea 

ryi  Showthrough/ 


□  Quality  of  print  variai/ 
OualM  higala  da  llmprasiion 

|~~|  Continuous  pagination/ 

0vv^^MqM^w  ^a^H^VJBV^^Bv# 
Convrand  un  (daa)  indaa 

Tida  on  haadar  taksn  froNK/ 


□  THIapagtofliaiM/ 
ftgadathradalolivfaiion 


D 
D 


Captian  of  isaua/ 

TitM  da  dipart  da  la  UviaitON 


GinMqua  IpModiquail  da  la  Uvraiion 


0 


CeaMMMairaa  suppMaaantairaK 


Pagas  wholly  or  partiaNy  obscurad  by  anvu  liipi,  tiMuai,  aia^  bava  baan  rafltaMd  W  aoHira 
tha  bart  poMibIa  bnaga.   Various  paglngs. 


This  Ham  it  fitaMd  at  dw  raduction  ratio  chackad  balow/ 

Ca  documant  aat  f  itai«  au  taux  da  rMuotion  indiqui  ci^assoua. 


10X 

14X 

1«X 

ax 

2fX 

SOX 

7 

ux 

^^^ 

UX 

aox 

au 

2tX 

32% 

TiM  eopy  filmad  hara  has  bMn  raproducad  thanks 
to  tha  ganaroaity  of: 

National  Library  of  Canada 


L'axamplaira  fllm«  fut  raproduit  grica  i  la 
g«n4roait«  da: 

BiMiotMqua  nationala  du  Canada 


Tha  imagaa  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  bast  quality 
possibia  considaring  tha  condition  and  lagibltiiy 
of  tha  original  eopy  and  in  Icaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Original  copias  in  printad  papar  covsrs  ara  fiimsd 
beginning  with  tha  front  covor  and  anding  on 
tha  last  paga  with  a  printad  or  illustratad  impras- 
sion,  or  tha  b'  x  covar  whan  appropriate.  All 
other  origin  '    ^s<ies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  v,   .<  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  micofiche 
shall  contain  tha  symbol  — ^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  ▼  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 

IMaps.  plates,  charts,  stc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirehf  included  in  one  expoeure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  comer,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  aa 
required.  The  following  diagrama  illuatrata  tha 
method: 


Les  imagee  suhrantaa  ont  «t«  reproduitee  avac  la 
plus  grand  soin,  compta  tenu  de  ia  condition  at 
da  la  nattet*  da  i'exemplaira  film«,  et  en 
conformity  avac  las  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 

Les  exempiairae  originaux  dont  la  couvorture  en 
papier  est  imprim«e  sont  filmte  sn  eommen^ant 
par  le  premier  plat  at  en  terminant  soit  par  ia 
darnlAra  paga  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
dlmpreasion  ou  dlNustration.  soit  par  la  second 
plat,  salon  la  eas.  Tous  las  sutree  exemplairas 
originaux  sont  fllmte  sn  commandant  par  la 
premiere  paga  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impreesion  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  damlAra  paga  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  dee  symbolee  suhrants  apparaftra  sur  la 
damiira  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  seion  le 
caa:  le  symbole  —m-  signifie  "A  SUiVRE",  le 
symbole  ▼  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  Atre 
filmto  *  dee  taux  de  rMuotion  diffirents. 
Lorsque  le  doounMnt  est  trop  grsnd  pour  «tre 
reproduit  en  un  soul  clich«,  il  est  film*  i  pertir 
de  I'angia  supMaur  gauche,  de  gauche  *  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  baa,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'imegee  nteeeeaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mAthode. 


1  2  3 


6 


««aocopr  mowTioN  tbt  chait 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


APPLIED  IM/CjE    Inc 

Z        '653  Eoit  Moin  StrMt 
£       Roclwsttr.  N*»  Yor*        14609       USA 
=       (718)  ♦«2-0300-Phon. 
(716)  288  -  5989  -  Fo« 


THE 


SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE 


AND 


ITS  RELATIONS  TO  SPECULATIVE  SCIENCE 
REMOTE  ANCIENT  HiyrORY.  AND         ' 
THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM 


A  BRIEF  APPEAL  TO  FACTS.  INDUCTIVE  REASON 
AND  COMMON-SENSE 


BY 

J.  MERCiER  Mcmullen 

AUTHOR  OF  "THE  HISTORY  OF  CANADA,"  ETC. 


NEW  YORK 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL   COMPANY 

CHICAGO.  EDINBURGH.  AND  LONDON. 

TORONTO:    WILLIAM    BRIGGS. 

»90S 


6t3  5// 

?tff 


rn  c  /^  ^  ^^^^^ 


Copyright.  1905, 
By  the  Author. 

All  riglUt  mtrvtd. 


660164 


PREFACE. 

I  J"  V"?'i*^  ***'«  °^  do"bt  as  to  the  true  value  to 

^nd!^^^'^  -^^  ^^**  S^°^°gy  ^d  some  of  the  o?hlr 
inductive  sciences  teach  us,  or  at  least  orofes,  t« 
teach  us.  about  the  "Beginning  of  TWs*^' an?th° 

ruX'°"v'i'>*^  "Hi|he;"!:riLl^"nch:oVoj 

fttenL  'to  ^'^  IT  ""^^^"^  *'■'""  *>*«  ^P^'nr  into  ex- 
stence,  to  found  a  new  system  of  Biblical  exegesis 
led  the  writer,  some  two  years  ago.  to  commenfe  in 
exhaustive  examination  of  the  various  issue^TnToTved 
As  h,s  investigations  progressed  a  large  number  of 

trS^V'^'^'^^r''^^'^''  •■"  difrerenfdepTSSents 
SderS  ''"7^^^g«;  presented  themselves*^  for  con- 
the  rnn^?"  •  ^\'*<=''"'t  ^^s.  that  he  finally  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  a  brief  review  of  these  problems 
from  a  popular  standpoint,  could  scarcely  faS  to  be 
at  once  interesting  and  useful  to  that  large  class  of 
persons  whose  business  or  other  avocations  precude 
them  from  making,  for  themselves,  the  neiessarSv 
extensive  researches  which  the  ^vide  natur?  of  the 
fnrT  k"""."**'-.  "«  ''  "°*  ^ting.  by  any  means 

Z  JervT'"'  °I  *^"  P'-°fe^«ion«I  fpecialis?nor  fo; 
the  very  learned  classes  otherwise  but  for  those 
worthy  everyday  people  who.  while  always  de^VoJs 
thefr  J!;r^  "' -^^  information,  make  common-sense 
JinnI  fy'^;"g.P"°c>Ple.  not  only  in  dealing  with  que^ 
tions  that  anse  out  of  the  more  import^t  incident^ 

whichSt^'th;,'"*  ""'^  as  regards^hose  quesliW 
wnicii  affect  their  moral  and  religious  welfare. 


PREFACE. 

While  pursuing  his  investigations  the  writer  had 
necessarily  to  examine  a  large  amount  of  scientific, 
historical,  and  other  applying  literature,  and  in  the 
following  pages  has  endeavoured  to  present  to  his 
readers,  in  the  most  direct  and  easily  comprehended 
language  at  his  command,  the  facts  and  conclusions 
to  be  legitimately  deduced  therefrom.    What  his  suc« 
cess  may  be  in  awakening  the  interest  of  his  readers, 
in  matters  of  the  deepest  import  to  all  Christian  peo- 
ple, time  alone  must  determine.    But  eve  i  should  they 
dissent,  in  any  form,  from  the  writer's  conclusions,  he 
may  still  be  permitted  to  hope  that  his  labours  in 
their  behalf  will  at  least  have  the  effect  of  leading 
them  to  make,  for  their  own  information,  a  full  en- 
quiry into  the  various  important  issues  involved.     In 
the  latter  case,  the  new  lines  of  thought  which  he  has 
mapped  out  cannot  fail  to  facilitate  ftirther  investiga- 
tion.    In  dealing  with  his  subject  the  writer  felt,  from 
the  beginning  of  his  work,  that  little  benefit  could 
possibly  be  derivable  from  reviewing  only  a  part  of 
it.    The  whole  case   against  the   Bible  and  Chris- 
tianity, in  its  scientific  and  literary  phases,  and  as  de- 
veloped by  modern  atheistical  or  agnostic  thought, 
had  to  be  considered,  however  briefly  that  might  be 
done,  in  order  to  make  his  work  productive  of  any 
real  practical  results.    The  writer  is  of  the  opinion 
that  in  taking  this  course  he  has  at  least  opened,  in  a 
new  direction,  a  door  of  the  temple  of  human  knowl- 
edge, which  more  learned  or  perhaps  more  compe- 
tent persons  can  now  pass  through  at  their  pleasure. 
This  volume,  while  giving  fresh  currency  to  the  views 
and  opinions  of  many  of  the  most  eminent  thinkers 
that  the  world  has  ever  produced,  also  embodies 
various  new  ideas,  and  much  novel  information,  which 
exclusively  appertain  to  its  author. 

Even  in  the  present  day  and  generation  of  multi- 
tudinous books,  and  much  reading,  the  true  relations 
of  several  appl3nng  phases  of  science  to  religion  do 
not  appear  to  be  very  generally  understood.    Some 


PREFACE. 

popular  information,  therefore,  as  regards  these  re 
fation.,  even  in  the  necessarily  briS^^foTO   „  which 
It  IS  hereafter  presented,  can  scarcely  fail  to  b?  of 
value   to   all  those  who   take  an   interc      °n  such 
matters,    Outside  the  ranks  of  the  clerics :  order, 

vl^'ii  r*Li"r^'  "^  'ir  'p*?^' ^^  »"^  -^-^eS 

r,  2l  1h  .K  u- 1"*"^*".  '?'*°"*  *^«  doctrines  of  what 
Litl;        *  ^.'^^"  Criticism.    Some  definite  infor- 

SS  r'K!'*'°''r'?«'y'  i"  **^^*  ^•''•^^o"  <:an  scarcely 
fail  to  be  useful  to  the  public  generally.  The  last 
four  chapters  of  this  boot  contain  a  fairV  fu  11  rev>S 

h^w  .fl°*''"""u°^**»*^  "'ghe^  Criticism,  as  defied 
by  Wellhausen.  the  great  German  apostle  of  the  cultt 

Driv.r'^"J'  ?».P""<=fcl  English  profe.^or;  and  K; 
Driver  and  others,    fhese  chapter  also  rive  a  fuU 

the  a8;iVi''"'*  "''.^'  ?*^"'  '^  fi"*  confeption  by 
in.tl^-  "*rPJ."°"'  *"**  *^'"°"«1»  '*»  subsequent  vaS- 
ous  rationalistic  stages  down  to  the  present  time. 

THE  AUTHOR. 

Brockvillb,  Ont., 

December,  1904. 


Si 


CONTENTS. 


KkKATA. 

■    o— 
Owing  to  the  cireuBuiUnce  that  th»  ;,.,th<.r  was  unable  to  Keth« 
final  proof  ,fceet.  of  ihk  book  •  frw  .mall  em>r.  were  not  cor- 
rectrd. 


I 
I 


H»«»     f.iiie 
a<>         2  fri.ni  bottom,  for  a  ivwl  am. 
24  fiom  tup.  f..r  ,7  rc4il  m  . 
'3  "  for  ()?,•  ri-iiil    *,.r,., 

"  "         '<"■  <■/'  atonemriit  read  /or. 

"  '■  '">■   W'-nr^'//  rrail  stntttigits. 

8  from  bottom,  read  tranHubstantiation. 
4  "  for  T.w..  rpHil  r.rfr. 

'4  "  for  slioii-  reuil  ^4<<ri'i. 

'»  *'»r  »/  read  ../  /<fc-. 


iin 

368 
991 
375 
39a 

iifr 


-°.Sr£a'g:g^^«-jlMy^^^£j£«  -  ».^-.«~. 


/    I  /•  >'  A    \ 


-l>.o  >>ii  3TJ*  Mrn'i  Warn.-  ii-A  &  Ji^oit  /-i/U  tu  ^I-jsiI.^  |...ai(  Itn.! 

. •,:,>>    !_.i,.i  ',;>-  ■;■..'.  ■  1^!'  '.''• 

mA   I.KTii   ui'iifi-JiiuJi;  V*.  3ol  '-I  'Js. 

--.Vt^     ill.-jT    'Si".'    ''j1  4  -IJ*. 

.-.'...i-.    l.iL-.'  ■i^W-.    T«i  4..I        'Vi 


CONTENTS. 


PROLEGOMENA, 
death!  of  indivicfcaU      l^lttre  lS*^«  „»^  *^  wanenee  on  the  Uves  and 
for  his  gui4«<rTSatSLt^hrChri.S^^*°°'  ^^  •"«•  «"P°"»  ^ilttt 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Creation  considered  from  an  Astronomical  standpoint 

r.^ii  •*  A*^  departments  of  astronomy  point  to  a  Creator  or  Gmt  Fi™» 

s:s„d^rootesSo^y.i:Sd^rEnSf^^^^ 

Isaac  NewtoiTand  tteluw  of  G.5w4^4«^  o^fe?  ,'»««»"««••    Sir 

Pag*  3. 


sa?rt.?5Sr4?S«3«r 


CHAPTER  II. 
The  Creation  considered  from  a  Geological  standpoint 


CONTENTS. 

J^H^.  ^  u?*"  ?>•  Unj««^  State,  in  1876.  Great  Britain  stUl  holdttbe 
i?lw"n'^"'¥  S  9«>'°«'?J  «a»i7-  The  geolofisU  Jama  Hntton, 
Deluc,  Bucldand,  De  U  Becl>e.  eeofogical  sp4uIa?ons  in  the  first  hal/ 
Pl..toni.S^*T**°S' if"'"'^-  Amusing  iquabblet  of  the  Neptunisti  and 
riutonists.  LyeU  rites  into  prominence,  and  advances  the  uniformitarian 
theory.  The  chamois  hunter,  Penaudin,  propounds  the  boulder-chder  theorr 
Agassis  eagerly  seizes  upon  the  crude  ilea,  wd  worlcs  it  up  iiuo^matSl 
age  of  once  upon  a  tune.  It  was  at  first  a  matter  of  ridicSle,  but  presently 
LyeU  and  othen  smously  adopt  it    Geology  in  its  two  sides  -  practical  and 

2^,'«  J;  »•?**  ^r"*  °L^^  ^"'"'»  ""» Thompson's  idleTp^ 
Ubons  as  to  the  age  of  the  world.    The  great  scientists  diffeT^forty  dJiUmis 

?-i^»i°'?l'F  w*\  "'"J'f  *  beginning  nor  an  end ;  and  is  only  u  imper- 
fect record  at  the  best,  and  largely  a  speculative  story  without  dates  of  any 
tand.  Idle  theories  about  the  structure  of  the  earth.  Biography  of  Lyei 
His  theories  about  Niagara  Falls  disproved.  Sir  Archifciaf  Gdlde  ^ 
agrees  with  LyelK  Geology  harmonises  to  some  extent  with  the  Biblical 
nanahve  of  the  Creation.  The  Oceans  have  always  been,  from  the  first. 
Where  they  are  now.  Their  Hydrographic  surveys  in  recent  years,  and  what 
these  surveys  prove  beyond  aU  doubt      .    ......    ,    .    Ai}7a8. 


CHAPTER   III. 

The  Theory  of  Evolution  considered  In  its  Relation  to 
Revealed  Religion. 

Evolution  sdentitolhrdeKribed.  Darwin's  Origin  of  Spedes.  WhatHux- 
ley  thought  of  It.  Herbert  Spencer's  opinion  of  Evolution.  Is  not  an  induc- 
tive sdmce,  and  is  still  m  embryo.  Does  not  account  for  a  beginning,  nor 
contradict  the  axiom  that  nothing  ptoduces  nothing.  The  molecule,  or 
atomic,  theory  not  a  modem  idea :  on  the  contrary  It  was  the  product  of 
anaent  Greek  atheistical  philosophy  in  the  sixth  century  b.  c.  The  Epicurean 
phUosophy:  Hume's  atheistical  Ideas :  Lamarck's  and  Owen's  contioVmy  at 
to  the  fixity  of  speaes.  AU  exUting  animals  in  their  wUd  state  ate  srecisely 
the  sune  as  they  were  at  the  first.  Sir  William  Dawson  states  that  man 
was  almys  what  he  is  to^lay.  The  oldest  skuU  discovered  might  be  that  of 
one  of  the  present  ceneration.  Cave  discoveries.  LyeU  on  tem^  changes. 
Summmg  up  of  all  the  evidence  in  the  case    .    .    .    . " .    .        P^^ 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Ancient  Sacred  and  Profane  Chronology.    Its  Relations 
to  Biblical  History. 

Hutorical  sketch  of  andent  dironolcwy.  It  has  no  starting-point :  and  is 
accOTdingly  mvolved  m  inextricable  confusion.  This  is  espedalfy  the  case  as 
regards  the  history  of  andent  Egypt.  Dates  and  perioib  of  Manetho,  the 
nmrptian  historian,  not  sustamed  l^  the  monuments  and  papyrae  inscriptions 
and  cannot  be  relied  upon.  The  decipherment  of  Hieroglyphical  writins 
made  matters  worse  instead  of  better.  The  mistakes  of  Lepsius  and  Marietta 
and  of  other  Egyptologists.  French  archgeological  forgeries.  The  blunders 
of  archzologists  as  to  ages  of  Egyptian  antiquities.  Early  BaMonian 
Chronolocr  ahnost  as  uncertain  as  that  of  Egypt.  Mistakes  of  Berosns,  the 
Chaldean  historian.    No  fixed  q)och  in  Babylonian  Chronology  untU  the  rdgn 


CONTENTS. 

''V»7S- 

CHAPTER  V. 

ffi.    Mode  of  buiSf       '"^'*'  •"'*  P"°«'"»«»»-    F&al  ju_  «en'i  of 

woiihip.  ^aiod  of  SM«on  f    J?    •     *?'*''.?*  *•«*  chwMter  of  reUgious 

Pag$  jo^. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  ancient  Religions  of  Iran  or  Persia,  Asia  Minor, 
and  Carthage. 

r*  creel  character  as  rqpmb  human  sacrificer^"' «pidLly  «  to  cWwJ^' 

li«the»^na,.o„5,  and  thus  f«que„«^  alienated  "f^mfte  wo^rf  thj 
*af«  m. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  ancient  Religions  of  Greece  and  Rome. 

«Jllif  ^JIJ^-iST"""^  ?i *?■*"'  "'"»  comparedwith  thatof  Rome.    Both 
creeds,  however,  sanctioned  hunun  sacrifice  ra  special  occasionr^  Espe^ 


CONTENTS. 

L"i2r«.S2?'trter  J!*  '?t  •"»!  «°^'l««-     The  Aphrodite  of  th. 
mmted,  and  a  just  punishment  for  iu  vices.  «tre^  wu  weu 

P'fni' 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

^'*?„*«.^Kfi[SL!'"*T**'°1'  °°  *•"  contents  of  the  three  preced- 
ing chapters,  and  on  the  sceptical  claim  that  the  Hebrew 
bacred  Scriptures  stand  on  the  same  plane  as 
the  profane  scriptures  of  other  nations. 

i^"^:^' fu^.^rc"h"^n^°L^4^^^^  ^t^: 

JoveminePf .  morally  and  religiously,  of  manldndTfa  Esrotaie  PfcLoK  «! 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Beginning  of  Things. 

Creation  widdTp^^^S  the  ana>^wSS''^^°-    ^*  *™«««»  «'  * 

N'oSraKuS;i^°SSF"^^ 

of  Sennacherib  and  Assurbanipal.    Tf.^KTof'™:^i"c:!L'?Sth1 


CONTENTS. 

tt.iUcadi«d«c«d«t.ofNo.^^^ 

tote.  i'S^  f Cg'^'^^'E." If?*'^'  •"'*'«  "o^^giv™ 

•         f'gt  178. 


CHAPTER  X. 
From  the  Creation  to  the  Deluge. 

•««»M  |iM(«  m  me  eartn  s  crust  after  the  Creation       I  vall'n  uuknii>»;». 

ofMvteffi^  K^***?Lu  *'",**^  '?■■  "*«■ '»"  "nJUenniums,  and  no  changes 
01  any  importance  have  taken  pUce  in  ts  crust  durins  that  lone  oeriod.  IjSi 
^«^  onhr  h,„  occurml    ^U  the  great  riveTftiU  flowOT^  an^ 

SSS'„i^.l.?*"'  !^^  .*•":  ^  »*"'  «»»Py  their  places  as  at  the  fi«t. 
Geolo^cal  dhmvery  sbongly  indicates  that  along  wai^  period  Vreroiled  in 

^<irT^d^Z"«.'*'*?'J  *•  Deluge  and  extended  e?S  to'^^hTArctic 
SS^|J?™"'^"J'5  "^  vegetation  discovered  in  North  Greenland.  Also 
faSritaberga  up  to  latitude  79°  During  this  warm  period  a  rich  vewtation 
pwiUed,.  whidimay  have  developed  into'coal  beds.  Emigration  of  Sis 
^mfaopwJ  regions  into  the  temperate  zones.  FossU  relSns  iniwXm 
»q*«8  mostly  near  the  surface  of  the  soil  or  in  gravel  beds      .    .    /»^Va^ 


CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Deluge  or  the  Flood. 

vJ^.^^i  J*™"**  »«*•"  available,  as  regards  the  hUtory  of  mankind. 
«M^'  "^l",*?!"  ^^  8race  in  God's  sight.  He  is  a  man  of  eduation 
!3ii?i''*y'.."u^/""y.'«"°P**""  *»  *»"*«  *e  "k.  He  preaches  repenUnce 
jrftfiout  awU  before  the  Flood.    How  he  was  regarded  by  thJ^opnMhat 

Clear  and  definite,  wift  facts  and  dates  arranged  in  proper  sequence.     It  bears 


CONTENTS. 

would  have  tetroyed  thJ^^S^viuS.ntaU?^  oFZ^'h  °  u!^.*'°°V  **!" 

pre«ion  accordingly  took  place,  wd  thte^  La? Src;«SL°*'^''""  **!: 

tune  raised  from  beneath  the  watm;    Th^J^^  ,JI  Creation,  wai  a  Hcond 

of  the  coal  bed  wsuns;  and  oth«^,Z  i!  JSi^"*  ?'  «•«  rock,  thadiilocation 

taken  place  during  the  DeW    G^wLf'eSde *l*^f  f^f"" '''  *"  ^^ 

numerous.    ?talartite  formation*  in  r=S^,^t^  °'  »  J^duge  are  quite 

the  original  fotesU  th^  whin  th.  fS^     *"*  [°1°*^  ""»'''  »«»*  «Pl<Uy  in 

the  sun"  SdS  n«^ert  this  ^inV^H*^t  'JlS  ^°'"  !"^  **  •<>1  6«d  to 

otherwise.    The^ddf  spread  ?.Sdtl„n^-?*^?"'  ?^*  *"•*»  ^  »*'°«  »«» 

they  aU  had  th^Tri^^WnKS^ce^hSr^^^^^        Ctluge  show  that 

amount  of  inddentS  evidence  MhJJft'n"'?'^'' '?"  ¥  "»  '*»'»•    ^  vast 

Catlin's  and^Stoafrs  tetiiS^nv'  %JT^?'  ",  ""•  »«»«  «fi«ctioB. 

t«ditionsoftheFlo^  Ch&^tion,     The'n'lU''?^!^  the  Hindoo 

to  Ludan  and  Ovid.    The  foll^ri^  th.  d,-!         •        ™JtioBs  according 

What  Mohammed  has  to  «yt"he  Ko,^''^r?'JS"*5f  "S^hw-Ewop^ 

traditions.    The  tablet  accoMt  of  the  m^A^l*  the  Flood.     BabylonSn 

the  tablets  were  ^^'^^^^'^iSL^^^jT^^^^^'^'^^^^^ 

CHAPTER  XII. 
From  the  Deluge  to  Abraham. 

conscience.    The  rainbow  and  itei^i»l     F^i^JPV°*'u?'*  «H'«*f  <^  »>«• 

were  made  with  straw  in  Babvk^  aSd  >!;«,f  Tv^S'  ,*"  ""^  •*«*»» 
in  Oriental  couoMm     ti.^  _1^  »"5*.«'«3T>t.    These  bricks  are  stiU  used 

and  A«)SL^,  Md  to^y'^S'thS  d^vS  X''?'"'"'-,'''  *^«  BabyloniiS 
ruin  mounds  n  AsStk  Turkw  tSSl»?"  Z"""-  »  '»^P«"«on  of  the 
history.    Hi,  meSf^  «vered  ^Iniay^rthirS^  ♦'?  '*^^'^  Pf°^*"« 

one  true  God.  HiTgenml  S^cL  w  w  ^  '  •  !^..*  '*"*'«  •"  the 
up  of  evidence      "**""*'  character.    What  Genesis  teaches  us.    Summing 

Pagta^o. 

CHAPTER   XIII. 
The  Sojourn  of  Israel  in  Egypt. 


CONTENTS. 

twem  jMcph't  dettt  and  the  birth  of  Moms.  Tewiih  tradltiani  of  that  mtI^i 
Uttto  Wonnatioojmd  that  only  of  an  todi^t'oZ^lTi^iS^ 
hwwi,  to  be  KUwiad  from  the  inicriptioni  of  Dyii^xvlli;  ^jErchroiTolo^ 
<rf  the  periodln  great  confusion,  fiynasty  XlOoimded  !»  Ram««l  ?  ?F 
•on  and  tucceuor  Seti  I.  te  the  fath^of  RameSTa  tSi^^S.  „f  t^i 
^,^  '^*t?-  ^\^  Seti whonve theorderTtt?ditru^<»rrfth?Hebri^ 
cWldren.    He  sutaequ«n«y  ab*cated  in  favour  of  Rameew  H..  who  wa.  thi 

XVm '.J^In^f^niSWT*  °^«y'«>»  dynasty-    DuraUon  of  DynasW 

S^  S  tS?.™i!f^/    T!^F»*-no»ic  and  wine  policy.    An  inicription  allud- 

2/n2.M!SJS^  B  '"  ^;  Interesting  letter  relating  to  that  city  and 
«nSiMSi^?  p^;»  i*^*^  "••  *''•  ""  ««»•  D«cript&n  of  the  pditicU 
condition  of  Egypt  duiine  Dynasty  XVIII.  Rise  of  Drnaitv  XIX  Th« 
grwt  reign  of  Kameses  if.    the  lUrd  work  of  rtfeH^^  dares     Thrir 

SSSuJ?  SniSSf^H*.  '^'^f  »'>'  heard  by ^iSfxK'fcthSSi 
eduction  of  Moies.    His  speciaf  training  in  the  wild«nets  for  his  great 

Pagtabti. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
The  Hebrew  Exodus  from  Egypt 

Soda!  condition  of  the  Hebrews  in  Egypt.  Their  relivioua  life.  N« 
•pecial  rereUtions  made  by  God  during  the  S^oum  untif  iSSS^tiJe  Com" 
SMSTh?™"'  ^^"^  ?V"'-  AbraSammJthavelrfta  W^pW«i  A^h 
descnb«I  than  the  Exodus.  The  Passover,  constituted,  of  itself  a  Mro*h^l 
Sri?^  ?'.i'^'r,?°*-    T""  *"«"  °f  I«^  must  iSvi  bli  fu  fy  aSS^SS^ 

5-hm^t  ^/^'''    The  destruction  of  himself  and  his  army  in  tS  Red  Sea. 

Ph^rt?!  »lv  "^-.kI^*  ""5,  =8^*^  P"«*«  ««<*  »ho"t  the  loss  of 
DoS  ^k^  ^  Mstorian  Manetho's  account  of  the  Exodus.    The  low 

i?S.  -  "^Si°  "l.^*^*  »''*'  "••  ^''°*'"»-  No  further  pursuit  of  the 
S^^S!^r  »**^"'P'*1-..  P'y  *«"  'ef'  wholly  undisturbed  by  the  Egyptians 
i?flf!l!S^i""J"*';  .u^'L*5  '""O"""!!"?  heathen  nations  were  weU  ac|b£nted 
m^^cK^^p!  "?  ^*^-^'  ^^  *'^  yo""  *«  everywhere  shacToff! 
XTit  condition  of  Palestine  prior  to  the  Exodus     ......    Pagt  yaa. 

CHAPTER    XV. 
The  Hebrews  in  the  Desert  of  Sinai. 

kitS*  or'd^*A»b,^^Ti,!  •?? £!lLT  '°  *"\f  The  defeat  of  the  Amale- 
S^_  -»  ,^  J  •  .The  Hebrew  host  at  Mount  Horeb.  The  maiestic 
£.ndSnl  rf*^J^  '^  ■^'"IJ?"-  The  final  fate  of  the  former  hS 
oonasmen  of  Egypt.    Their  rebelhon  and  punishment     Condition  of  Canaan 


I'  ' 


CONTENTS. 

»tm  jMhoa JavMhd  it.  The  coimt7  Mttiad  with  ttroncly  fortified  dti«t. 
V't  ""SS.  "^  ^'  "t  Mom.  ctoM  of  the  hittoricT  LniSJv,?  to^ 
Hebrew  deUvMuce  from  Eopt.  wd  how  they  were  prepared  for  Mtiooal «- 
Mtcnce,  andtheireoMjuMtof  thtludof  Cauu       ...    .    .    fiMw. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 
The  Higher  CriticUm :    lu  Origin  and  iu  Puiposei. 

Prelimintry  reiMrltt.  The  hiitory.of  the  Higher  Critidsm  and  its  oriiiii. 
Influence  on  the  English  educated  mind  of  Geraian  opinions  ud  litmt£« 
What  constitute  the  Hi|her  Cntidsm,  as  propou.dST*wriSs''P^ 
con.    It  first  began  with  Baruch  Spinoza,  a  Dutch  infid^  tew     tk«  FrJu? 

3'ir^l'^*~^*'"'nr°^'^  Ai.^v«iS£?'tiS-up^*e'^ 

rf  the  Boolt  of  Genesis.  The  German  £ichhom  elabo^tes  Ast^c's  ttow^ 
Etchhom  was  a  rationalist  and  confirmed  faddist  ill  dUltnat  tvnea.  Oe  Wette 
anothCT  German  professor,  next  takes  up  the  consideration  <rf  the  Pentateuch! 
"•i?"*?;,'*'  l"**  ^'  *™?  ''•»."»y  •"  its  several  books-aU  U  Wendimd 
PV^iL  "i'J?"^"*}'.?"  »*«:*»»•  was  of  a  moderate  type.  The  murder  of 
fn^.'***Tf  "^  ^  ^•,***-  G«man  a^ostidsm  assaili  the  BiUe  in  v^oS 
Jonns.  The  poisonous  leaven  of  the  Higher  Criticism  destrovinc  the  German 
Lutheran  Church,  -nje  industy  of  It.'knglish  di^dpl^r^^iSlti^^ 
opinions.  Orthodox  Protestant  faith  corrupted  at  ite  fountain  h«3  The  re- 
vfsion  of  the  High^  Criticism  faith.  lU^jection  of  Su,  wd  of  sUl  tte 
mir^ulous  m  the  Bible.  German  thought  profoundly  affecto  the  Enelish 
mind.  Cheyne,  Driver,  Robertson  Smith,  anf  all  the  SnSshHi«her  c5tS 
constantly  quote  Gei^anauthoriUes,  «.'d  form  SLl2fv«  iS?rmuVw5! 
admitation  society.  The  dangerous  virus  widely  spreading.  Wellhauien  h* 
comes  the  leader  of  the  G«ma5  Higher  Criticism  CuluSl;  HbSJcf  taadt 

iVth^SiT'  "V^T'  ^"^t?*  ''«?»=  ^'  P"***  Christiani^on  Vwtf 
with  Mohammedanism,  Buddhism,  and  so  for*.  Wellhausen  dcetches  ^ 
own  theological  poitout  in  his  Prolegomemi  to  his  HUtorTTSmL 
Cheyne's  Encyc  opidia  Biblica  sustains^ellhausen's  opinions,  but  admiu 
aA?^.^'^}^^^^'^^-  .V^'JS^^"  Critics  assine  toicnowag^ 
i^.M^  "^n'  •"  «•«"«*?.  °'  *•  O'd  Testament  than  either  Christ  o"  Ws 
Apostles ;  wholly  ignore  the  Divine  humanity  of  the  Redeemer ;  and  virtually 
declare  th«nselves  to  be  modem  heretics  of  the  ancient  Ari^n  type.  Dr. 
Baxter  and  the  Hi,h.  Critics.  What  Gladstone  says  about  th^V  Well: 
rh'lvn.*!;?-^^^  '  "  *• '"?!«  box.  What  they  admit  against  themselves. 
FnT-j"^?  r  °^  theolorial  portrait.  He  is  false  to  the  Church  of 
England,  and  to  orthodox  Chnstjamty.  Cheyne-s  Encyclopaedia  BibUca. 
through  Schmiedal,  discredits  the  New  Testament  records  of  t^e  miracles  of 
Chnst  and  his  resurrection.  The  Oxford  infidelity  of  to-day  far  in  advance  of 
German  mfidekty  a  few  years  ago.  What  Dr.Clark  says  about  Deim"^^" 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Driver's  Higher  Criticism  Views  as  to  the 
Old  Testament  Scriptures. 

Driver's  opinions.  whUe  expressed  more  moderately,  are  much  more  danger, 
ous  than  the  roughly  expressed  views  of  Wellhausen  and  Cheyne.  His  "In- 
troduction to  the  Litoature  of  the  Old  Testament,"  owing  to  its  attractive 
tiUe,  has  crept  into  the  libraries  of  thousands  of  Protestant  clergymen.    Its 


CONTENTS. 

■tsml  plan  faH«l  on  Owmm  praeedent.  Chriat't  twdtlat,  mm  Drlter  wu 
purriy  rel^bMU,  Md hi Kctiptod  th«  Mdwt  *i«wt  oT&i  jiwi ••  to  (Si otS 
l-Mtumt.    Ht  ttiUM  that  th«  perfect  Godh«Ml  <rf  oITtprd  «.  .^S. 

fonmd  tht  viwn  of  WaUhautm  and  Chejrae,  as  to  the  hnndary  charactv  oi 

Oennan  writert,  and  conitaatly  quottt  apprnvtulr  fnm  them,  thos  iho«ri» 
th.  Uue  character  of  hia  e«)teric  faith.  X  «Ka«*kS?'com^ffij 
^e  Pentateuch,  and  place,  that  of  Deuteiwn^Tto  a^^wk^TSuSSih. 

JCIr*  iJ*  .A****^"  '^j"*»  "»»'y  contradict  the  Mnmento  of  the  Hiiihw 
Critic*.  Oenteronomv  and  ito  authorship  bv  MoeesTrS  latter  WmSST 
inanded  by  God  to  write  Hebrew  hUtory.  ^tL  c»SSrter™hU  nSrSJe^ 

tir^i.K.V..,'*'^.'""*  '^!"«  •^»«'-  The  literary  ityle  of  Deiterononi^ 
Under  what  drcumitancet  it  was  written.    Drirer-s  review  of  the  Bo^hl 

bpolt  IteeU  that  it  was  written  a  few  yean  after  flie  death  of  loahua.     hI 

r.^,^l""?°"!iiP»'.,S!?™"'«'«  »f'«  the  CaptiX^tt?ouV?S2i«."; 
ST..^  »how  that  aU  but  the  last  chapter  wm  written  dunV  the^  of 

whKi^i!.^  ?!i  °i''I*"*r'5'  *•"  '^««  ••«»'*'y  i^**  «••  went* 

w.J^  ^1.  T'^  •■***  ■'L  transpired,  and  were  mere  epitomes  of  a  fullw 
rfH^breJlif.  '^ifi  J!S~**™  Pt'lological  progress  appli^  to  the  conditions 
aJfc^?7ta^!i  J''?jf5^'**J"  ?"=';"'  langtMges.  ¥he  objection  to  th« 
£^«ijT!iT*'i^  Our  Lord  testifies  to  ite  prophetic  tenth.  How 
S27eSSr  hS^.  ^f  »?i**«[2S!^'"'  by  copyists  and  tU^rs.  The  perish. 
.hL!?  i«-.^^  ^}^  Hebrews  reoufred  constant  renewal.  Hebrew  £came 
l^^f^*"  •"'I'*'  Imperfectly  understood.  Had  ndtber  a  grammar 
nor  a  dictionary,  and  was  acquired  by  oral  teaching  alone.  The  ree^S 
^^SSI^L.!*!!*^?  OId^«t»iSt  only  800  ?.2S  old.    NothlSS  ta 

«drH*^'teS!;^t!s^&^?:r*!".'''".*^;^*•r  ^tii^ 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 
How  the  Higher  Critics  write  Biblical  History. 

Prdirainary  remarks.  How  agnosticism  shifte  its  ground,  as  renrds 
amdts  on  Christianity.  BibUcal  chronology  gives  the  oWteie  key  totS 
periods  of  ancient  Pagan  history.  FUing  theEgyptian  Dynit/X Vlli.  T*! 
policy  of  Its  Pharaohs.  The  Tel  el  Amama  taUetsT  In  AbSiiam's  dm*  tS! 
authoriw  of  the  King  of  Elam  extended  tXe  SSr^n  sST  At  t?«e  of 

m!„^£w^"i.-  "*  sudden  coltapse  was  owing  to  the  destrurtfon  of  Pharaoh 
Meneptah  and  his  army  in  the  Red  Sea.    WelDiausen  falsifies  hUtory  towU 

vS^««^  M  ''"^'^  °'  '*"  ^'^"*  »'■"<»"  •«l"»"y  «  ""true  as  that  of 
«f  Thr?S?V  »  ~ntraiporary  narrative  exists  by  which  the  truth  or  untruth 
Jh«  Ini  T*»?"«»J  Scriptures  can  be  tested.  We  must  Uke  them  just  as 
SSL!2r  M  "'*  f  uf  ••  °H*?'»  history  reviewed  at  length,  and  its  falsehoods 
SfnJiv.  .^*P^  *  insmptions  at  Kamak,  telling  ofTiU  great  victory  over 
mLS^JS.  ''"  n>»ntime  nations.  Moses  and  Aaron  appear  before 
m«n?,!r  T?  *  ."Sf^*  from  Israel's  God.  His  unbelief  an/Gughty  de- 
MBTSS;.«J*h  '*^i!f'""*"i  °l  the  Passover,  the  great  historical  connebting 
A  A  ^dTSTrlvi  ^^""^  *"**  "1!.  »"»«equent  life  of  the  Jewish  people.  ThI 
Ark  and  the  Tabernacle  also  proved  connecting  links  in  the  same  niyPagt  418. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   XIX, 
Summing  up  of  the  Evidence  in  tlie  Que. 

No  good  cnmmit  «Ut  for  the  •faMdowMai  of  •  ifaigto  btliof  of  tbo 
Chrisoaa  world.  W«  hav«  only  to  make  duo  allowwM  for  muo  mnwifttt 
Old  Tottwnmt  trran,  but  thai  U  all  I  Thoto  crron  do  not  affect  a  *iaglt 
artidoaf  doctriB«,amlartiiiaial3racadMnicin  thdr  chancter.  IndetiendMHr 
of  thoao  •mr*  altOMthor  th*  goldtn  thread  of  iniplratlna  unltae  the  leveral 
books  of  Iho  OM  Tettament  w  one  neat  whole.  AU  honeet  and  proved 
idcnce  tuttaina  the  Bible.  The  Law  of  Gravity  does  so.  The  utter  worth> 
lesiaess  of  Evolutioaary  speculatioai.  Geology  proves  nothing  definitely  aa 
to  the  CrMttion  or  otherwise.  The  false  Chronok^  of  agnoaSdam.  Pinal 
Review  of  the  H^er  Critidam.  It  is  a  coaspirecy  against  all  orthoi.  «  r^ 
Ugion,  and  the  Divine  humanity  of  Christ.  "Hie  douCle  dealing  conduct  ot 
Cheyne  and  other  dcrgymcn  of  the  Church  of  Enghud.  The  old  Ariaa  haraay 
hw  descended  upon  the  churches  again.  Necessary  now  to  sift  the  wheat  fiom 
the  chaff.  How  the  ordinary  clergyman  is  handkapped  by  hU  ignorance  of 
Hebrew,  and  of  the  inductive  sdenccs.  Tablet  literature  sustains  tne  Bible,  aa 
well  as  Egyptian  inscriptions.  The  honest  Biblical  historian  has  no  occasion 
to  bolster  up  his  case,  like  Wellhausen  and  Cheyne,  by  falsifying  history.  Th« 
fulfilment  of  prophecy  in  the  past  and  present  forms  the  strongest  possiblo 
proof  of  tiie  INvine  inspiratioa  of  the  Old  Testament.  Prophedea  in  theaso 
of  Egypt,  of  Babylonia,  and  of  Auyria  still  being  fulfilled.  The  wonderful 
propbades  of  Daniel,  which  extend  to  the  end  of  the  world.  The  idle  spec- 
ubfions  of  Driver.  The  testimony  of  our  blessed  Lord  establishes  the  truUi  of 
the  out  Testament  Scriptures.  His  numerous  quotationa  from  the  Law  of 
Moses  and  the  prophets,  as  well  as  from  the  historical  books.  The  qootatioas 
of  the  Apostles  fram  the  Old  Testament.  They  absolutely  accepted  the  truth 
of  the  historical  bodu.  The  poeition  of  the  Higher  Critics  on  this  point. 
Their  unbounded  arrogance  and  Motism.    What  wU'  •«  the  final  reault  of  the 

g resent  BibUcal  controversies }    The  donds  covarin'      ><  Protestant  world  will 
I  God's  good  time,  break  tiy«id4>y,  and  leave  a  bcjr  and  purer  religious 
atmosphere  bdiind  them.    Condusion Ay«  ^^ 


INDEX 


473- 


I 


PROLEGOMENA. 

At  no  previous  period  of  the  Chriitian  era  were  the 
attacks  on  the  credibility  and  authority  of  the  Bible, 
and  especially  as  regards  its  Old  Testoment  portion 

lalF  «?*;?"'  :""  *  *^  fo"nWable  as  during  the  latte; 
hiUf  of  the  nineteenth  century.  These  atUcks  were 
S!  «  ^-^  "?'»«'■?"•  directions,  and  frequently  in 
the  most  insidious  forms.    When  one  recoflects  that. 

SSi?fn?f  ^  l^  '*"  r<^L'8'°"»  '^'^^^^i^  the  human: 
ising  and  beneficent  influences  of  the  Bible  light  up 
with  their  genial  sunshine  every  phase  of  humJn  life, 
«,n?°»l  exwtence,  and  should  therefore  com- 
mand the  deepest  gratitude  of  every  true  philan- 
Aropist,  no  naatter  what  his  religious  opinions  may 

^li^rJl  *"*''*"*»;  Eveiy  damaging  fact  within 
their  reach,  every  unfavourable  circumstance,  real  or 
imaginary,  every  argument  at  their  disposal,  be  it 
sound  or  unsound,  are  used  without  compunction  to 

to  mankind  which  its  pages  contain.  If  it  were  &ie 
nriost  pernicious  book  in  existence,  it  could  not  pos- 
sibly experience  harsher  treatment  or  more  cewo- 
nous  criticism.  But,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  the  book, 
^r  aecellence,  of  all  books,  and  stands  without  a  rival 
in  the  wonderful  wisdom  and  great  variety  of  its 
hterature.  No  other  book  has  ever  exercised,  or  ever 
will  exercise,  such  a  profound  influence  for  good  on 

2!  Jh  /iT'^f-  °^  *?*  ^""'*°  ••**=<^'  »o  beneficently 
shaped  the  lives  of  nations  and  of  individuals,  or 
brought  so  much  happiness  and  hope  and  benign 

ix 


X      THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

peace  to  millions  upon  milliont  of  oeoole     With 
the  destruction  of  the  RomwiEmoiri.  SLtrll^        " 

o.X"*'!:*;"*  ".'  •bout?*S;meThaTda;k  MeS:.5 

fen^  Th.  w-  •"*  '°"«  <iPP'<^d  the  world   SntuJ 

«  t??^   *  d'wovery  of  tlie  art  of  printing  ushered 

n  the  dawn  of  a  rtnaissanct,  which  eradujSrv  winS 

mto  the  mental  triumph,  of  modern*  „e,l^^^^ 

^VTl  °i*  W«'  intellectual  wndtioncrmS 
also    back    disqu  s  t  ons    of   all    IcinH.     ««♦.  u    • 

cal  hair-splittings,  and  olo/ies^'if  evelj  dSte" 

SL  "^°^  ''''•«'°."»  ^°"^t  •"<»  di«oussronThTch 
;i°Xl°"*  V~°?'""«y  in  the  Oriental  life  of  the 
earner  ages  of  Christian  ty  is  aeain  uoon  u«  in  JkjIk 

^SM'^I'S!!^  '^''V*"^  P^^nSng  :  '^th  net 
types  of  the  Sadducee,  the  Pharisee  and  thTv^^» 
rean;  and  when  philosophy  i,  ^  p"rop^tdeK 

£~]^  BS:v^e?^- -r^-f  i 

Ch""?  ''•1**  i?»*  ^.''^'•^  »»"  done^or  m^Sn?*whf; 
Chnstianity  hM  already  accomplished  and  is ^till 
doing  for  the  betterment  of  the  world   thlJL 
represenutives.  of  religious  un^^^^^^^^^^ 
bo  h  If  it  were  in  their  power  to  do  so.  and  reduce  us 
to  their  own  pitiable  condition,  and  to  their  wretched 

enemies  to  the  human  race  must  those  vSrinnri!! 
who  seek  to  disturb,  with  malice  prcpe^e  or  n"l^: 

S?igrfo°r"wh?:h  S""V"'  whcJeso^mrco'drjnTf 
'•  \^5f  K        A         ^''7.,  ^'^''^  n°  substitute  to  offer 
You  have  destroyed."  said  David  Hume's  motheri 


PROLEGOMENA.  ^ 

hereafter.  Oh.  glte  me  I^U.^- '"*'  '^^^  ^"  *  *>'"»*d 
fort  me  on  my  de.th^bJ?^   w"5k"T,^?»*"**  »'>'^^'n- 

hUtorian,  who",  .l"d  To  fc  i  *'"*  u**^!?*''^  •"'' 
had  nothing  to  etjl  /«  hi!  ^  ^**"  '"1"='*  drttreiied. 
the  hope  he  hwi'deorivJL^^^'r*  T?**"  *°  '«P>«" 

Nothing  ete?J?ought  so  folcrhl.  T  P*"*»>'°«*"' 
great  comfortine  truth,  nfru^l*^  *°  ""^  '"'"«'  ^^^ 

no  victor;  in  A.  ™™     !'?f'"i*"^./"  *""••■"' 
alltheirfoes  of  fh!  "Mainly  survive  the  assaults  of 


xii    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

the  simple  yet  most  comprehensive  gospel  of  Christ 
teaching  as  it  did  the  fatherhood  If  God  and  "he 
brotherhood  of  man,  was  to  the  profound  Greek 
philosopher  the  merest  foolishness  and  to  the  learned 
Pharisaical  Jew  a  stumbling-block.  It  is  much  the 
jame  to-day    It  is  little  wonder,  therefore'tha?  Christ 

tlA  '!?^^^^•'  '^r'P'*^^  ^'"°"g  the  distinguishTd 
and  highly  educated  classes  of  his  day,  but  amone 
the  poorly  cultured  and  humble  fisherman  of  See! 
or  among  others  who  also  followed  some  lowly  occu- 
pation. Even  St.  Paul  was  a  mechanic,  a  ten"- 
wi  tL''^  ^''t'  ""*^  *^"  ^'^'"^^  R^d^^'^eV  iimself 

h^ch  A„"h°  .''^'^"**\*"^  *°"^^  *t  1^'s  father's 
bench.  And  yet  these  humble  men,  so  looked 
down  upon  by  the  higher  and  learned  classes  of  S 

forM  ?,"'  "^T  ""^^^  ***^  ^'^'"*=  instruments  of  a 
worid-wide  reformation  in  all  classes  and  grades  of 
the  human  family,  from  the  king  on  his  &rone  to 
the  peasant  m  his  cabin.     When  we  contemp Ute  the 

rL^r.W  ^'■°'"  ^  '•°"'"'  «t«"dP0int  the  charter  of 
ite  primitive  agencies,  we  cannot  fail  to  realise  that 

earirdat  of  ¥^1°''^^'  ^°^P^^  ""^  Christ,  in  the 
iS  aL  .  ^}''^^[l'''ty'J^?^^^tutcs  a  miracle  in 
^elf.     And  to-day  the  Christian   man    or   woman 

Z.l'^y  '^''  '!!  **^  ^""  assurance,  that  however 
it  thS  S"  r  °*t*^-  *y^^  °^  unbeliever  may  sneer 
at  that  gospel  as  being  beneath  his  philosophy  its 
sympathetic  story.  Divine  and  human,  will  sSlUon- 

Im  isn  ^''•"^  ^*^'^''  ^**  *h^  ^«'g"  °f  the  cross 
IIh!  I  K  ""f"  J"P'-«™«.  and  that  the  Bible,  the 
t^hrn.?^?  ^°°K  ?^  ^^""'^  has  ever  known,  and 
hearS^?h/^'-^  for  countless  ages  mankind  has 
heard  the  voice  of  God  proclaiming  the  eternal  dis- 

tloSr  th°^  "^?'  "'?^  ^^°"S'  *•■"  ^t'"  hold  S  po  - 
S„  r  u  "?°'c  ''^'u"^'^  ^'■^^^"^^  °f  the  human  ?ace. 
tvenGoldwin  Smith,  one  of  the  latest  assailants  of 

-TTJV.^  '^'  ^''^^''  admits  that  there  is  a  S,S 
a  great  first  cause,  who  created  this   worid,  but 


PROLEGOMENA. 


•  •• 

xm 


Its  affairs.*    That  is  merely  the  eminent  professor's 

^.^v  /;k       ".<=°"»«q"ently  only  speculative,  like  so 

moaLn      K°P!?'°"l°f  ^'^'^  same  character.    How 
lUogically  absurd  is  the  idea  that  the  Supreme  Being 
who  formed  this  beautiful  and  varied  world  of  ouS 

Tts  elementf^f^'i'''  ^"  '?  "^^-^'^'"e  ^"°^»»'"*^  ^"^  all 
iSnir  Tk  human  happiness,  and  placed  every- 

thing  thereon  and    therein  to  sustain  and   benefit 
mankind,  and  made  man,  as  he  still  stands,  the  phy- 
sical  and  intellectual  lord  of  his  creation,  would  l?ave 
that  man.  for  whom  he  had  already  done  so  much 
without  any  chart  to  guide  his  way.  or  any  rSe  of 

onnoliei  ^J  ^°^"™  ^^  "^?  '     ^  P°«>*'°"  °f  t^Ts  kind  i 

opposed  to  every  law  of  reason  and  common-sense 
and  every  form  of  fact,  and  carries  its  own  best 
refutation  on  its  face.    It  is  contradicted  by  personal 

u?T!u*'\^'7*'"  ^  ^y  th«^  teachings  of  history,  in 
which  the  hand  of  God  has  so  constantly  been  aSar 
ent.  and  so  often  producing,  from  exceedingly  ?om- 
£ntrHf '''*'"  contradictory  situations,  the  most 
unlooked-for  results  as  regards  the  benefit  and  prog- 
ress of  mankind.  ^    * 

^Jn^V^ft"^  of  ancient  history  witnesses  the  con- 
?Ue  and  ?in'"f  °^^  ''^'*  Panorama,  on  which  the 
hlfJ^t  ^  nations  pass  in  continual  succession 
PaSlt.i""r  ^?yP*'^"j  Babylonian,  Assyrian,  Persian. 
.a^nrh  G^«^'«"' and  Roman  empires,  which  ruled 

ILTr  fJ^l  ""'"l-^'^^^  *°^'d  >"  a"<='ent  times, 
appear  and   finally  disappear.     They  all  had   their 

tKvI^"  '  ^u\^^'  *""''  ^"^  were  found  wantili^ 
They  eventually  became  the  victims  of  their  own  vices, 
m  the  shape  of  unbridled  despotism,  of  the  lust  of 
conquest  and  rapme,  of  national  impurities,  of  their 
oppression  of  weaker  nations,  of  their  utter  reckless- 
ness of  human  life  and  their  terrible  cruelties,  and  of 
tfteir  total  disregard  for  the  natural  rights  and  liberties 
»  Guesses  at  the  Riddles  of  Existence,  p.  223. 


xiv  THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

of  mankind  generally.    Their  national  sins  invariably 
found  them  out,  sooner  or  later,  and  brought  down 
upon  them  national  punishments.     That  God  visits 
both   nationally  and    individually,  the   sins  of  the 
fathers  upon  the  children  of  those  who  hate  him  is 
most  emphatically  taught  by  historical  allusion  and 
prophetic  mspiration  in  the  pages  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment   scriptures.     In  some   cases    the  punishment 
prophetically  foretold    has    been  inflicted    in    full 
while  in  other  cases  it  is  still  in  process  of  infliction, 
and  thus  stands  in  our  own  day  an  existing  witness  t- 
the  truth  of  the  Bible. 

Modern  history  also  teaches  us  the  lesson  that 
national  sins  beget  national  punishments.     Spain,  a 
couple  of  centuries  ago,  stood  foremost  among  the 
great  nations  of  the  Old  World,  and  owned  a  large 
part  of  the  New.     Her  boundless  pride  and  avarice 
and  her  inhuman  treatment  of  the  hapless  aborigines 
of  South  America  who  came  under  her  cruel  sway 
and  whom  she  not  only  robbed  of  their  country  but 
also  of  their  liberties,  constituted  her  national  sins. 
Her  punishment  came  in  the  due  order  of  Divine 
arrangement.     To-day  she  stands  stripped  of  all  her 
great   transatlantic  possessions,   and  occupies  only 
a  very  subordinate  position  among  the  nations  of 
Europe.     The  sins  of  modern  France,  embodied  in 
the  pomp  and  despotism  of  the  reigns  of  Louis  XIV 
and  Louis  XV.,  in  the  pride  and  avarice  and  corrup- 
tion of  her  ruling  classes,  and  their   oppression  of 
their  dependents,  brought  Louis  XVI.  to  the  scaffold, 
produced  the  French  Revolution  with  all  its  horrors, 
led  to  all  the  great  Bonaparte  wars,  and  the  conse- 
quent destruction,  on   a  vast  scale,  of  human  life. 
Ihe  i"  ranee  of  to-day  has  not  a  church-membership 
ot  one-fifth  of  her  people,  and  is  paying   a  heavy 
penalty  for  her  gross  sensuality  and  infidelity  in  the 
decline  of  her  population,  and  the  consequent  loss  of 
national  prestige.     While  her  great  continental  rival, 
Germany,  steadily  increases  in  numbers,  the  popula- 


PROLEGOMENA.  xv 

tion  of  France  is  now  less  than  it  was  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  past  century.    Events  in  the  United  States, 
since   i860,  show  what  beneficial  and  providential 
results  are  at  times  evolved  out  of  the  most  difficult 
and  complex  situations.    Sixty  years  ago  that  country 
was  confronted,  in  the  most  threatening  manner,  by 
the  dark  cloud  of  slavery,  so  securely  anchored  in 
legal  right  that  the  evil  appeared  to  be  beyond  all 
human  remedy.    Horace  Greeley,  Elihu  Burritt,  Lloyd 
Garrison,  and   its  other  antislavery  philanthropists, 
stood  helpless  and  agh-  t  before  tlie  problem  of  the 
involuntary  servitude  oi  .he  Southern  negro,  and  were 
utterly  unable  to  gauge  its  solution.     But  God  was 
pleased  to  solve  the  problem  in  his  own  time,  and  in 
his  own  way.     The  election  of  Abraham  Lincob 
freed  the  North  from  the  rule  of  the  Democratic 
party  and  the  slave-owner  oligarchy.    So  the  latter, 
m  fierce  resentment  at  their  being  driven  from  power, 
raised  the  standard  of  civil  war  in  order  that  they 
might  be  free  to  found  a  great  slave-empire;  and  the 
North  went  into  a  life-and-death  struggle  to  preserve 
the  Union,  and  to  restore  things  to  their  former  con- 
dition, with  the  negro  still  in  bondage,  to  be  defeated 
in  every  direction.    Lincoln  at  last  realised  that  the 
Union  could  never  be  restored  on  a  slavery  basis 
and  saw,  as  though  by  Divine  inspiration,  the  true 
solution  of  the  difficulty.     His  emancipation  procla- 
rnation   followed;    and   from  that  day  onward  the 
tide  of  victory  turned  in  favour  of  the  North,  and  his 
shackles  were  struck  forever  from  the  American  negro 
slave.     Thus  the  great  sin  of  the  Southern  States,  and 
their  action  to  perpetuate   it,  produced  their  own 
punishment,  and  led  to  the  total  abolition  of  slavery 
forever  in  the  United  States.     The  sin  of  the  North, 
in  pandering  so  long  to  the  slave-owning  aristocracy 
of  the  South,  was  also  punished  by  a  four  years'  terri- 
ble Cjvil  war,  by  a  vast  loss  of  human  life,  and  by  the 
creation  of  a  great  national  debt.     During  the  recent 
Ucer  war  the  same  conditions  which  marked  the  civil 


i> 


xvi   THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

war  in  the  United  States  very  largely  prevailed.    With 
Ae  Boer  it  was  also  a  struggle  for  empire,  and  for 
hbcrty  to  hold  the  black  man  under  his  heel  in  a  con- 
dition of  veritable  slavery.     He  absolutely  declined  to 
do  anything  for  the  physical  or  moral  elevation  of  his 
darker-skinned  brother,  and,  as  Livingstone  stated, 
was  the  steady  and  determined  foe  of  all  missionary 
enterprise.    Great  Britain  went  into  the  war,  not  for 
the  purpose  of  conquest,  but  to  preserve  the  normal 
condition  of  affairs,  varied  only  by  a  slight  franchise 
concession,  to  get  defeated  again  and  again.    Not 
until  she  determined  on  total  subjugation,  as  the  only 
true  measure  of  relief  and  future  peace,  did  victory 
crown  her  efforts.    The  Boer  now  no  longer  threatens 
her  African  empire,  or  stands  in  the  way  of  mission- 
ary enterprise.    His  own  act,  in  seeking  war  with 
England,  became  the  medium  of  his  punishment  and 
downfall.    Thus  God  makes  even  the  wrath  of  man 
to  praise  him,  and  his  hand  may  still  be  discerned  in 
ordering  the  affairs  of  mankind.    His  intervention  in 
human  affairs  may  not  indeed  be  seen  so  plainly  as 
in  Biblical  times ;  but  it  is  just  as  potent,  nevertheless, 
as  at  any  former  period.    As  the  writer  pens  these 
lines,  another  case  of  punishment  for  national  sins  is, 
in  all  probability,  in  progress  of  development.    Of  ali 
modern  nations,  Russia  is  the  most  grasping,  the 
most  faithless,  and  the  most  ambitious.    Endowed 
with  boundless  domains  already,  she  aims  now  at 
stealing  Manchuria  from  helpless  China,  and  domi- 
nating the  Eastern  worid  as  she  already  does  the 
Western,  and  is  the  arch  foe  of  human  liberty  every- 
where.   Neither  England  nor  any  other  of  the  great 
powers  of  the  worid  had  its  hands  free  to  punish 
her.     Japan  alone  held  that  independent  position 
which  warranted  attack.     A  defeat  at  the  hands  of 
Japan  will  be  the  worst  and  most  humiliating  pun- 
ishment for  her  sins  that  Russia  could  possibly  suffer. 
All  profane  as  well  as  sacred  history,  as  we  have 
seen,  bears  direct  testimony  to  the  truth  of  the  Divine 


PROLEGOMENA.  xvii 

ordinance  that  the  iniquities  of  the  fathers  will  be 
visited  on  their  children,  and  that  this  law  applies  to 
nations  as  well  as  to  individuals.  And  as  God  re- 
quires obedience  to  his  commands,  it  would  be  utterly 
at  variance  with  all  his  attributes  of  mercy  and  good- 
ness not  to  inform  us  explicitly  of  the  character  of 
these  commands,  and  in  what  sense  we  are  to  obey 
them.  He  could  not  possibly  have  left  mankind 
without  a  guide  of  -his  description.  And  thus  we 
naturally  and  logically  come  to  the  Bible,  as  the  only 
book  which,  despite  redactorial  interpolations,  or 
errors  of  transcription  or  translation,  or  marginal 
glosses  entually  copied  into  the  text,  or  inadvertent 
errors  otherwise,  still  contains,  in  the  utmost  com- 
pletenesj,  the  whole  law  and  counsel  of  a  beneficent 
Creator  for  the  moral  and  religious  government  of  his 
creature  —  man. 

The  mischief  done  to  the  Bible  as  well  as  to  Chris- 
tianity, by  their  openly  avowed  or  half-concealed  foes, 
IS  not  infrequentiy  small  in  comparison  to  that  which 
they  sustain  at  the  hands  of  their  professed  friends.    In 
primitive  times  the  greatest  injuries  to  the  Christian 
Church  frequently  arose  from  causes  which  had  their 
origin  within  its  own  bosom,  such  as  the  heresies  and 
schisms  of  its  teachers.    And  in  the  same  way  pre- 
cisely some  of  the  worst  blows  it  receives  to-day 
come  from  the  hands  of  its  professed  friends.    It  is 
a  remarkable  fact,  in  ecclesiastical  history,  that  all  the 
heresies  and  schisms  which  have  afflicted  the  Chris- 
tian Church  must  be  mainly  laid  at  the  door  of  the 
c  erical  order.    That  order  is  chiefly  responsible  for 
all  the  metaphysical  hair-splittings,  all  the  superfine 
theological  subtleties,  which  from  time  to  time  have 
disturbed  the  Christian  world,  and  so  frequently  set 
the  more  practical  but  less  abstruse  laity  by  the  ears. 
An  impartial  historian,  Washington  Irving,  tells  us,  iii 
his  Life  of  Mohammed,  that  when  that  notable  im- 
postor first  appeared   prominently  on    the  world's 
stage,  the  Eastern  churches  were  so  distracted   by 


xviii    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


•i!  t 


!■ 


heresies  and  schisms,  so  puzzled  by  the  subtle  ab- 
stractions, .to  which  the  Oriental  intellect  has  always 
been  so  prone,  of  one  leading  theologian  after  another, 
that  the  simple  Christianity  taught  by  the  apostles 
and  their  immediate  successors  had  almost  ceased  to 
exist,  and  had  been  supplanted,  as  regards  Asia  and 
Africa  at  least,  by  gross  error  and  superstition.  The 
punishment  meted  out  for  this  apostate  condition  of 
Eastern  Christianity  was  alike  swift  and  terrible.  The 
deistical  sword  of  Mohammed  and  hh  successors 
literally  swept  the  heretics  and  schismatics  of  the 
Christian  Orient  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 

The  Bible  and  Christianity  survived  the  great  waves 
of  vice  and  infidelity  which  flowed  over  continental 
Europe  during  the  latter  hall  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, and  the  coarseness,  sensuality,  and  irreligion  in 
England  which  marked  the  reigns  of  the  first,  second, 
and  fourth  Georges.    They  also  survived  the  ribal- 
dries of  Paine,  and  the  sneers  as  well  of  Voltaire,  who 
vaingloriously  boasted  that  he  had  effectually  killed 
the  Bible.     But  so  far  was  this  from  being  the  case 
that  since  the  days  of  Voltaire  its  circulation  has  been 
enormously  multiplied,  and  it  is  now  a  more  widely 
potent  factor  in  human  thought  than  at  any  former 
period.     Its  influences  for  good  are  constantly  spread- 
ing out  wider  and  wider,  and  its  blessed  light  pene- 
trates more  deeply  into  the  dark  places  of  the  earth. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  past  century  the  Bible  that 
now  costs  a  shilling  sterling  could  not  be  bought  for 
ten  times  that  amount,  and  as   regards  the  poorer 
classes  of  the  British  islands,  the  knowledge  of  its  con- 
tents was  chiefly  acquired  in  the  churches.     In  1803 
the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  was  founded. 
It  soon  became  the  most  gigantic  publishing  organi- 
sation in  existence,  and  on  February  i,  1903, completed 
the  first  century  of  its  wonderful  usefulness.     During 
that  period  the  Bible  has  been  translated  into  367 
different    languages,   and    the    Society  has    issued 
175,000,000  copies  of  it,  complete  or  in  parts,  at  an 


PROLEGOMENA. 


outlay  of  $67,500,000.  The  extent  of  its  operations 
throughout  the  world  is  now  very  great  The  auxil- 
laty  branches  of  the  Society  number  7,839,  and  the 
agents  or  colporteurs  connected  therewith  are  found 
selling  the  Bible  wherever  any  part  of  the  human 
family  can  be  approached.  In  every  country,  in 
every  city  and  town,  where  governments  permit,  the 
Bible  travels  in  the  vanguard  of  civilisation  and 
Christianity.  In  1902  the  Society  issued  5,061421 
copies  of  the  sacred  writings,  while  a  vast  number  of 
additional  copies  were  also  circulated  through  other 
agencies  in  the  Old  World  and  the  New.  The 
Society  does  not  give  away  Bibles  free,  but  sells 
them  at  a  low  price,  sufficient,  however,  to  afford  a 
guarantee  that  the  books  are  bought  to  be  read. 
These  facts  proclaim,  beyond  all  dispute,  that,  despite 
all  the  hostile  criticism  to  which  it  has  been  subjected 
of  recent  years,  the  Bible  continues  to  hold  its  posi- 
tion of  supremacy  all  the  world  over,  and  still  re- 
mams  the  most  treasured,  most  sought  after,  book 
m  e-istence. 

In  our  own  generation  zealous  missionaries,  like 
Livingstone  and  numbers  of  others,  have  carried  the 
Bible  into  the  most  remote  regions,  and  brightened 
with  its  grand  religious  and  moral  teachings  many 
of  the  hitherto  dark  and  cruel  places  of  the  earth. 
When  England  in  the  eighteenth  century  had  deeply 
sunk  into  the  slough  of  Christian  sloth  and  formal- 
ism, John  Wesley,  with  his  Bible  in  one  hand  and  his 
hymn-book  in  the  other,  caused  the  stagnant  waters 
of  religious  life  to  freely  flow  again;  and  a  new 
gospel  renaissance  spread  not  only  over  the  British 
wlands  but  also  over  the  United  States  and  Canada. 
During  the  past  three  decades  that  revival  has  sadly 
waxed  and  waned  under  the  incubus  of  too  much 
temporal  prosperity,  as  regards  the  church  which 
Wesley  founded  on  this  continent.  Respectable  for- 
malism has  only  too  often  supplanted  simplicity  and 
zeal  in  the  service  of  the  Master.    Churches  among 


1     i 


XX     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

all  Protestant  denominations  have  been  of  recent 
years  largely  converted  into  concert  rooms,  and  the 
pulpit  has  too  frequently  become  subordinate  to 
the  choir  and  the  solo  singer.  The  decadence  of  the 
churches  m  another  direction  is  still  more   deeply 

tri„^!/''l'"u*!u'*'-  ^*';  ?"'?•■*"  ^'^^^  »»«*=°"e  "Widely 
tamted  with  the  isms  of  the  day,  and  the  pews  below 

have  commenced  to  catch  the  contagious  disease 
Congregations  are  accordingly  becoming,  like  the 
church  at  Laodicea,  neither  hot  nor  cold,  and  sadly 
m  need  of  another  John  Wesley  and  a  new  revival, 
tven  the  superficial  observer  cannot  shut  his  eyes  to 
the  fact,  that  in  the  United  States  and  Canada  num- 
bers of  Protestant  clergymen  have  accepted,  in  part 
or  altogether,  the  tenets  of  the  "Higher  Criticism" 
school  of  thought,  and  in  n^any  cases  reject  the  Mosaic 
account  of  the  Creation  and  other  vital  parts  of  the 
Bible,  and  become  believers  instead  in  the  contradic- 
toiyand  too  often  sceptical  speculations  of  geology 
and  other  kindred  sciences.    The  same  state  of  things 
precisely  now  prevails  throughout  Protestant  Europe. 
u!^Ku^^  }^^  «*■***  Lutheran  theologians  of  Germany 
bend  the  knee  to  the  new  intellectual  idol  which  the 
teachers  of  the  Higher  Criticism  have  set  up  for 
philosophical  worship.    When  religion  is  thus  tainted 
with  the  elements  of  dry  rot,  and  consequent  sure 
decay,  it  is  little  wonder  that  the  influence  of  the 
churches    with    the    masses    is    being    continually 
weakened,  that  atheism  now  prevails  widely  among 
the  working-men  of  all  classes,  and  that  the  anar- 
chist is  abroad.     The  Bible  is  the  quintessence  of  all 
orthodox  Protestant  teaching,  —  the  superstructure 
on  which  all  Its  churches  stand.     Destroy  the  founda- 
tion of  the  building,  and  the  edifice  above  necessarily 
crumbles  to  the   ground.    Roman  Catholicism,  so 
harmonious  m  its  ecclesiastical  details,  and  so  perfect 
in  Its  forms  of  church  government,  may  still  continue 
to  exist  without  a  Bible,  just  as  it  practically  does 
now  to  a  very  wide  extent,  but  when  Protestantism 


PROLEGOMENA. 


xxi 


abandons  the  Bible  it  abandons  the  source  of  its  own 
Iifc,  and  must  soon  cease  to  exist  as  a  religious  force. 
The  New  TesUment  is  the  logical  complement  of  the 
Old.  Both  are  inextricably  bound  up  together  in 
their  teachmgs,  and  cannot  be  separated  either  in 
whole  or  m  part.  They  must  stand  as  they  are  in  all 
essential  matters  of  faith  and  doctrine,  or  fall  as  they 
are.  If  we  reject  one,  we  must  also  reject  the  other. 
Destroy  one  essential  prop  of  the  Old  Testament  and 
the  New  forthwith  begins  to  totter. 

Within  the  latter  half  of  the  past  century  various 
schools  of  agnostic  thought,  especially  in  Germany, 
have  assailed  the  Bible  in  every  possible  form.    One 
of  these  schools  was  especially  founded  to  prove  that 
the  Gospels  and  other  books  of  the  New  Testament 
were  not  historically  accurate,  either  as  regards  their 
writers  or  the  periods  at  which  they  were  said  to 
have  been  written.    The  researches  of  that  school 
ended  in  substantiating  the  converse  of  its  original 
contention.    In  England,  during  the  same  period,  the 
greatest  masters  of  scientific  thought  arrayed  them- 
selves against  the  Bible.    Within  their  ranks  were 
found  Huxley,  Lyell,  Tyndall,  Darwin,  and  Herbert 
Spencer,  all  since  gone  to  their  final  resting-places, 
-—some  laid  away  in  Westminster  Abbey,  others 
elsewhere.    Their  brilliant  scientific  theories  took  the 
world  by  surprise,  and  for  the  time  being  appeared 
almost   unanswerable.    But   the    progress  of  time, 
later  discovery,  and  more  ripened  knowledge,  have 
shown  that  many  of  these  theories  had  no  foundation 
either  in  fact  or  sound  inductive  reason,  rested  solely 
on    speculative    ideas,   and  were  therefore    merely 
matters  of  opinion.    We  are  now  in  a  much  better 
position  than  we  were  thirty  years  ago  to  sift  the 
wheat  f  om  the  chaff,  to  hold  to  what  is  good  and 
true  in  the  contributions  made,  from  time  to  time,  to 
the  general  stock  of  human  knowledge,  to  reject 
what  is  unsound  or  injurious.     And  so  also  will  it 
presenUy  be  with  the  Higher  Criticism.    Whatever 


xxii     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

part  of  its  work,  small  or  large,  which  may  be  based 
upon  actual  fact  or  sound  inductive  reason  will  be 
accepted  by  public  opinion  as  iu  legitimate  addition 
to  the  fund  of  general  information.    Whatever  part  of 
It  which  may  rest  upon  speculative  theories,  that 
have  no  direct  proof  or  circumstantial  evidence  to 
sustam  them,  should  be  promptly  and  unequivocally 
rejected.    Nothing  touches  the  Christian  more  closely 
than  his  religious  belief,  — his  hope  of  a  brighter  and 
better  world  hereafter,  and  he  should  never  permit 
either  one  or  the  other  to  be  disturbed  or  weakened 
unless  on  the  clearest  and  calmest  conviction,  based 
upon  substantial  fact  or  irrefuUble  argument    The 
assertion  of  mere  opinion  or  speculative  supposition, 
no  matter  how  high  may  be  the  scientific  or  theo- 
logical standing  of  the  person  who  presents  it  for  our 
consideration,  should  never,  even  for  a  moment,  be 
permitted  to  affect  our  religious  belief.    Testimony 
that  would  not  be  accepted  as  sufficient  to  convict 
for  the  most  trifling  offence,  in  the  most  rudimentary 
court  of  law,  should  not  be  allowed  to  pass  current  as 
regards  the  important  matters  of  our  final  salvation 
and  future  eternal  existence. 

One  great  difficulty  with  theological  or  scientific 
students,  old  or  young,  in  the  present  day  is  that  they 
are  very  much  disposed  to  form  conclusions  too 
quickly,  on  the  mere  authority  of  some  professed 
specialist  in  one  department  or  another  of  human 
knowledge.    They  possess  themselves  of  some  ably 
written  theological  or  scientific  work,  which  may 
probably  prove  a  case  very  fully  from  a  single  point 
of  view,  and  they  at  once  pin  their  faith  thereto  with- 
out a  due  examination  of  the  other  side  of  the  ques- 
tion.    It  should  always  be  remembered  that  there 
are  two  sides  to  every  question  in  existence,  — a  right 
and  a  wrong  one,  — and   in  order  to  come  to   an 
equitable  conclusion  thereon  both  sides  should  first 
be  carefully  considered.    The  witnesses,  as  it  were, 
should  be  brought  into  court,  and  subjected  to  cross- 


PROLEGOMENA. 


xxiii 


examination,  and  we  should  in  all  cases  be  euided 
by  the  weight  of  evidence.  When,  for  example,  we 
approach  the  consideration  of  the  credibility  or  in- 
credibility of  any  part  of  the  Bible,  be  it  either  the 
Old  Testament  or  the  New,  we  should  do  so  in  a 
cautious  and  well-advised  manner,  and  not  in  a  rash 
or  hasty  wav,  and  avail  ourselves  of  every  honest 
source  of  information.  Every  faC  or  circumstance, 
pro  and  com,  should  be  well  and  fully  weighed.  By 
following  the  ordinary  rules  of  legal  evidence  we 
shall  always  be  able  to  arrive  at  just  conclusions,  and 
avoid  all  danger  of  being  imposed  upon  by  mere 
sophistries,  no  matter  how  plausible  or  ingenious  they 
may  be.  ' 

It  is  one   just  cause  of  honest  pride  with  the 
Anglo-&ixon  race,  in  the  Old  World  and  the  New, 
that  Its  Enelish,  American,  and  Canadian  representa- 
tives love  fair  play.    In  war  that  feeling  leads  to  a 
spint  of  the  noblest  chivalry;  in  peace  it  controls 
the  every-day  relations  of  ordinary  life.     In  this  way 
It  constitutes  o-  •  great  mainspring  of  Christian  duty, 
as  regards  frie    i  and  foe.    But  Christian  duty,  thank 
God,  goes  mu-n  farther  on  the  highway  of  human 
benevolence  than  the  exercise  of  the  spirit,  however 
noble,  of  mere  fair  play.    It  teaches  us  to  be  mag- 
nanimous to  a  fallen  foe,  instead  of  burning  piles  of 
the  living  and  dead  together,  or  putting  men  to  the 
crudest  tortures  that  devilish  human  ingenuity  could 
devise,  as  was  the  practice  of  the  Assyrians  and 
oUier  ancient  Pagan  nations.    Even  the  Romans,  with 
all  their  legal  love  of  justice,  did  not  hesitate  to 
follow  the  evil    example  of  their  predecessors    in 
authority.    Their  model  emperor,  Titus,   after  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  was  moved  by  a  wild  spirit 
of  revenge  to  crucify  thirty  thousand  hapless  Jewish 
captives  around  the  shores  of  Lake  Tiberias;   and  all 
ancient  history  of  Pagan  times  is  full  of  examples  of 
the  greatest  cruelties  towards  fallen  foes.    Let  the 
agnostic  contrast  this  state  of  things  with  the  spec- 


xxiv    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

tode  recently  praiented  bv  England  after  the  Boer 
war.  Much  as  she  had  lost  in  the  valuable  lives 
of  some  of  her  noblest  and  bravest  sons,  and  in  the 
expenditure  of  a  vast  amount  of  treasure,  no  spirit 
of  revenge  was  awakened.    On  the  contrary,  she  t^k 

?rH«?i!l**"-'***rt'  ^y^^t  *»«»<».  and  spent  millions 
of  dollars  m  rej^abAiuting  their  wasted  h^es,  and  in 
otherwise  placing  them  in  a  position  to  retrieve  their 
blighted  fortunes,  which  had  Ken  placed  in  jeopardy 
Sri J?n ''•!?.';?  •^^'".^^•^l^ing  war  against  Great 
Britain.  That  great  object  lesson  for  the  better  future 
S!k!.  ^"Ti?"  u**'*  Z^  unquestionably  owe  to  the 
Bible  and  the  benevolent  genius  of  the  Christianity 
which  arose  from  its  teachings.    And  to  the  S 

S'"i'  "•''•iv*'  r°"^   ^'^^   «»«  magnaniZs 
spirit  shown  after  the  great  American  Civil  War 

«J'tK.'pTn.'°'^""*'  '*»*  ^"*'»-    Not  a  single  leader 

hI«?  T  ff'^""'"Tr"".  P"'  **»  *'**»^5  "<*  «ven  its  presi- 
dent, Jefferson  Davis,  was  permitted  to  live  out  his 
life  unmolested  and  die  in  peace.    Instead  of  induS- 
Uf  ♦K    Jhe  peraecution  and  degradation  of  a  fallen 
foe,  the  brotlierly  hand  was  held  out  to  the  conquered 
Southern  States,  and  tiie  reward  of  this  Christian 
conduct  came,    n  God's  good  time,  in  an  unted 
people  again.    Now,  if  the  lible  and  Christian  train- 
mg  have  led  to  a  magnanimity  of  procedure  which 
must  ever  live  in  the  golden  memories  of  the  A„gU». 
♦K^l"  race,  surely  they  merit  at  least  fair  play  at 
the  hands  of  tiieir  adversaries,  instead  of  the  small- 
souled  carping  criticism  to  which  they  are  nowadays 
V'J'l^^^'^^y  ?^^i^ctcd  by  members  o{  the  agnostic 

forlJ'g?"" l"*":!^™  ^r^.'^*^*-  And  yet  these  people 
K«^u  fe  absurd  position  involved  in  scoffing  at  a 
book  which,  through  all  the  long  centuries,  thousands 
ot  great  men  have  reverenced  in  proportion  to  their 
greatness, -a  book  for  which  in  age  after  age  waJ- 

martyrs  bled  at  the  stake  or  laid  down  their  lives 
m  the  Roman  arena.     Our  Blessed  Lord  bore  wit- 


PROLEGOMENA.  xxv 

new  to  the  truth  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  by 
quoting  again  and  again  from  their  pages ;   and  their 
literary  splendour,  as  well  as  that  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, was  acknowledged  by  even  the  great  Pagan 
cntic  Longinus  (a.d.  aio),  who  bore  witness  to  the 
subliniity  of  Genesis  and  the  rhetorical  and  impas- 
sioned force  of  St  Paul.    Ernest  Renan,  the  great 
French   sceptic,  admitted  the  fact   that  the  Bible 
was  the  grand  consoler  of  humanity.*     Professor 
Huxley,  who  invented  the  term  "agnostic"  for  his 
own  use  to  avoid  being  termed  an  infidel,  while 
absolutely  declining  to  accept  the  Bible  as  a  rule 
of  faitii  or  belief,  still  regarded  it  as  tiie  best  source 
of  the  highest  education  for  young  people.    In  the 
"Contemporary  Review"  for  December,  1870,  he 
wrote :  "  I  have  always  been  strongly  in  favour  of 
secu  ar  education,  in  the  aense  of  education  without 
theology,  but  I  must  confess  I  have  been  no  less 
seriously    perplexed    to    know    by  what  practical 
measures  the  religious  feeling,  which  is  tiie  essential 
basis  of  conduct,  was  to  be  kept  up,  in  the  present 
utterly  chaotic  state  of  opinion  on  these  matters, 
witiiout  the  use  of  the  Bible.  .  .  .    Take  the  Bible, 
as  a  whole;    make  the  severest  deductions  which 
fair  criticism  may  dictate  ...  and  there  still  remains 
m  this  old  literature  a  vast  residuum  of  moral  beauty 
and  grandeur.    And,  then,  consider  the  great  histori- 
cal fact  that  for  three  centuries  this  book  has  been 
woven  into  all  that  is  best  and  noblest  of  English 
history,  that    it  has  become  the  national  epic  of 
Britain,   and  is  familiar  to  noble  and  simple  from 
John    O'Groat's   house   to   Land's  End,  that    it  is 
written    in    the    noblest    and   purest   English,  and 
abounds  m  exquisite  beauties  of  a  merely  literary 
form.  ...  By  the  study  of  what  other  book  could 
children  be  so  much  humanised  ?  "    "  The  Bible,  also  " 
says  Huxley  elsewhere,  "has  been  the  Magna  Charta 
of  the  ooor  and  of  the  oppressed ;  down  to  modern 

*  Histoire  da  Peuple  d'lsrMl,  p.  7. 


m 


xxvi    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

times  no  state  has  had  a  constitution  in  which  the 
interests  of  the  people  are  so  largely  taken  into 
account,  in  which  the  duties  so  much  more  than  the 
privileges  of  rulers  are  insisted  on,  as  that  drawn  up 
for  Israel;  nowhere  is  the  fundamental  truth  that 
the  welfare  of  the  state  in  the  long  run  depends 
on  the  welfare  of  the  citizen  so  strongly  laid  down. 
I  do  not  say  that  even  the  highest  Biblical  ideal 
i:^  exclusive  of  others,  or  needs  no  supplement.  But 
I  do  believe  that  the  human  race  is  not  yet,  possibly 
never  may  be,  in  a  position  to  dispense  with  it."* 
While  Huxley  was  a  sceptic,  he  was  also  a  patriotic 
lover  of  his  country,  and,  whatever  might  be  his  own 
opinions,  he  was  still  ardently  anxious  to  promote  its 
educational  welfare  by  continuing  the  use  of  the 
Bible  in  its  schools. 

Heinrich  Heine,  who  flourished   during  the  first 
half  of  the  past  century,  in  a  career  of  great  literary 
brilliancy,  was  a  Jew  by  descent,  half  German,  half 
French,    who    after    a    time    became    a    confirmed 
doubter.     On  a  dull  Sunday,  and  in  order  to  escape 
ennui,  he  took  up  a  Bible,  and  spent  most  of  the  day 
in  reading  it     "  What  a  book,"  he  exclaimed,  "  vast 
and  wide  as  the  world,  rooted  in  the  abysses  of  crea- 
tion,  and  towering  up   beyond  the  blue  secrets  of 
heaven  !     Sunrise  and  sunset,  birth  and  death,  prom- 
ise and  fulfilment,  the  whole  drama  of  humanity  are 
all  in  this  book."     Heine  afterwards  became  a  devout 
Christian,  and  during  a  long  illness  of  several  years 
before  his  death  in  1856,  the  Bible  was  his  constant 
companion  and  greatest  solace.     "I   attribute,"   he 
says,  "  my  enlightenment  to  the  reading  of  this  book, 
—  a  book  as  full  of  love  and  blessing  as  the   old 
mother  who  reads  in  it,  with  her  dear  trembling  lips, 
and  this  book  is  rAe  book,  the  Bible !     With  right  is 
it  named  the  Holy  Scriptures.     He  who  has  lost  his 
God  can  find  him  again  in  this  book,  and  he  who  has 
never  known  him  is  here  struck  by  the  breath  of  the 
»  Huxley'j  Essays  on  Controverted  Questions,  pp.  55,  58. 


PROLEGOMENA.  xxvii 

Divine  Word."     Heinrich  von   Ewal^.   one  of  the 
greatest  scholars  that  Gerntany  has  e  ?r  produced 
and  the  successor  of  Eichhorn  as  lectur«.  r  ca  Old  Tes 
tament  Exegesis  at  the  University  of  Goitipge  i  who 
died  in  1875  at  the  age  of  seventy-two,  was^exceeu- 
Ingly  heterodox  in  his  religious  opinions.     One  day 
when  the  late  Dean  Stanley  was  visiting  him,  a  New 
Testament  which  was  lying  on  a  small  table  fell  to 
the  floor.     "  It  is  impossible,"  said  the  Dean,  "  to  for- 
get the  enthusiasm  with  which  this  dangerous  heretic, 
as  he  was  regarded,  picked  up  the  small  volume,  and 
exclaimed  with  emotion,  '  In  this  little  book  is  con- 
tained  all  the  best  wisdom  of  the  world.'"     Jean 
Jacques  Rousseau,  a  man  of  immoral  life,  who  died 
in  1778  after  a  most  erratic  literary  career  of  distin- 
guished brilliancy,  wrote  to  a  friend :  "  I  must  confess 
to  you  that  the  majesty  of  the  Scriptures  astonishes 
me.    The  holiness  of  the  Evangelists  speaks  to  my 
heart,  and  has  striking  characters  of  truth,  and  is, 
moreover,  so  perfectly  inimitable  that  if  it  had  been 
the  invention  of  men  the  inventor  would  be  greater 
than  the  greatest  heroes."     Gotthold  E.  Lessing,  an 
eminent  German    dramatist,   heterodox   theologian, 
and  general  litterateur  of  the  eighteenth  century,  bore 
the  following  witness  to  the  Bible :  "  The  Scriptures 
for  fourteen  hundred  years  have  occupied  the  human 
mind  more  than  all  books,  have  enlightened  it  more 
than  all  other  books." 

Such  is  the  testimony  of  eminent  men  who  could 
not  be  regarded  as  the  friends  of  Evangelical  truth, 
as  to  the  high  character  of  the  Bible.  Let  us  now 
consider  the  testimony  of  another  class  of  equally 
eminent  men  which  points  in  the  same  direction. 
John  Henry  Newman,  an  English  Roman  Catholic 
Cardmal,  said  of  the  Bible:  "Its  light  is  like  the 
body  of  heaven  in  its  clearness;  its  vastness  like 
the  bosom  of  the  sea;  its  variety  like  scenes  of 
nature."  F.  W.  Faber,  who  had  been  a  distinguished 
Protestant  clergyman,   but  subsequently  became   a 


m>', 


i\ 


xxviii    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

convert  to  Romanism,  speaking  of  the  uncommon 
beauty  and  marvellous  English  of  the  Authorised  Ver- 
sion, says:  "It  lives  in  the  ear  like  music  that  can 
never  be  forgotten,  like  the  sound  of  church  bells, 
which  the  convert  scarcely  knows  how  he  can  forego. 
Its  felicities  often  seem  to  be  things  rather  than  words. 
It  is  part  of  the  national  mind,  and  the  anchor  of  the 
national  seriousness.     The  memory  of  the  dead  passes 
into  it.    The  potent  traditions  of  childhood  are  stere- 
otyped in  its  verses.     It  is  a  representative  of  man's 
best  moments ;  of  all  that  there  has  been  about  him 
of  soft  and  gentle  and  pure  and  penitent  and  good 
speaks  to  him  forever  out  of  this  English  Bible.     In 
the  length   and  breadth  of  the  land  there  is  not  a 
Protestant  with  one  spark  of  righteousness  about  him 
whose  spiritual  biography  is  not  in  his  Saxon  Bible." 
Goethe,  the  great  German  writer  and  dramatist,  who 
flourished  in   the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  and 
earlier  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  occu- 
pies a  foremost  place  among  the  literati  of  the  Ger- 
man Fatherland,  was  at  once  a  type  of  modern  culture, 
of  scientific  thought,  a  charming  poet,  and  a  pro- 
found thinker.     He  says :  "  I  am  convinced  that  the 
Bible  becomes  even  more  beautiful  the  more  one  un- 
derstands it.     Let  culture  and  science  go  on  advanc- 
ing, and  the  mind  progress  as  it  may,  it  will  never  go 
beyond  the  elevation  and  moral  culture  of  Chris- 
tianity, as  it  glistens  and  shines  forth  in  the  Gospels. 
It  is  to  its  intrinsic  value  that  the  Bible  owes  the 
extraordinary  veneration  in  which  it  is  held  by  so 
many  nations  and  generations.     It  is  not  only  a  pop- 
ular book,  it  is  the  book  of  the  people.    The  greater 
the  intellectual  progress  of  ages,  the  more  fully  pos- 
sible will  it  also  become  to  employ  the  Bible  both  as 
the  foundation  and  as  the  instrument  of  education  — 
of  that  education  by  which  not  pedants  but  truly 
wise  men  are  formed." 

Some  short  time  ago  the  writer  noticed  a  report  in 
a  leading  Canadian  newspaper,  which  described  the 


PROLEGOMENA. 


XXIX 


pulpit  -ddress  of  a  local  Unitarian  clergyman  who 
instituted  a  comparison  between  the  Bible  and  Bud- 
dhist, Mohammedan,  and  other  scriptures  oi  a  similar 
class,  which  he  placed  on  the  same  plane  with  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments.    The  agnostic  higher-crit- 
ical subtleties  of  Wellhausen  and  the  extreme  deistical 
teachings  of  Cheyne  had  evidently  overcome  his  in- 
tellectual balance,  and  led  him  to  pin  his  theological 
faith  to  their  skirts.     One  of  the  great  modern  lights 
of  Unitarianism  was  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  the  de- 
scendant of  a  long  line  of  New  England  clergymen 
and  the  pupil  of  the  celebrated  Channing.     Emerson 
was  a  great  student,  a  wide  reader  of  all  the  best 
writings  in  existence,  and  a  man  who  stood  on  the 
higher  planes  of  human  thought.     He  was  regarded 
as  almost  too  liberal  and  advanced  in  his  views  to 
occupy  his  Boston  Unitarian  pulpit.     Let  us  put  him 
for  a  brief  space  in  the  witness  box,  and  see  what  he 
says  about  the  Bible  in  contradiction  of  the  above 
statement  by  his  Canadian  confrire.     He  says :  "  The 
most  original  book  in  the  world  is  the  Bible.     The 
elevation  of  this  book  may  be  measured  by  observing 
how  certainly  all  elevation  of  thought  clothes  itself  in 
its  words  and  forms  of  thought.     Shakespeare,  the 
first  literary  genius  of  the   world,  leans   upon  the 
Bible.    People  imagine  that  the  place  which  the  Bible 
owns  in  the  world  it  owes  to  miracles.      It  owes  it 
simply  to  the  fact  that  it  came  out  of  a  profounder 
depth  of  thought  than  any  other  book."    The  great 
Unitarian  preacher,  Theodore  Parker,  whose  liberal 
opinions  were  too  advanced  for  the  more  orthodox 
members  of  his  creed,  and  who  founded  a  Boston 
church  of  his  own  to  which  he  preached  with  deep 
earnestness  and  great  eloquence  for  fourteen  years 
before  his  death,  in  i860,  says  of  the  Bible:  "This 
collection  of  books  has  taken  such  a  hoM  on  the 
world  as  no  other.     The  literature  of  Greece,  which 
goes  up  like  incense  from  that  land  of  temples  and 
heroic  deeds,  has  not  half  the  influence  of  this  book. 


XXX     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

It  is  read  of  a  Sunday  in  all  the  ten  thousand  pulpits 
of  our  land ;  in  all  the  temples  of  Christendom  is  its 
voice  lifted  up  week  by  week.  The  sun  never  sets  on 
its  gleaming  page.  It  goes  equally  to  the  cottage  of 
the  plain  man  and  the  palace  of  the  king.  It  is 
woven  into  the  literature  of  the  scholar,  and  colours 
the  talk  of  the  street.  It  enters  men's  closets, 
mingles  in  all  the  grief  and  cheerfulness  of  life.  Men 
are  married  by  Scripture ;  the  Bible  attends  them  in 
their  sickness ;  the  aching  head  finds  a  softer  pillow 
when  the  Bible  is  underneath  ;  the  mariner  escaping 
from  shipwreck  clutches  the  first  of  his  treasures,  and 
keeps  it  sacred  to  God." 

Michael  Faraday  was  among  the  greatest  scientists 
which  the  past  century  has  produced.     One  day  his 
iriend  Sir  Henry  Acland,  found  him  resting  his  head 
on  a  table  on  which  lay  an  open  book.     "  I  fear  you 
are  worse  to-day,"  said  Sir  Henry.     "  No,"  answered 
Faraday,  "  it  is  not  that.     But  why,"  he  asked  with 
his  hand  on  the  Bible,  "why  will  people  go  astray 
when  they  have  this  blessed  book  to  guide  them  ?  " 
The   great  Richard  Hooker,  who  flourished   in  the 
latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  was  the 
author  of  "Ecclesiastical  Polity,"  which  marks  an 
epoch  in  English  prose  literature  and  English  thought, 
thus  speaks  of  the  Bible:  "There  is  scarcely  any 
noble  part  of  knowledge,  worthy  of  the  mind  of  man, 
but  from  Scripture  it  may  have  some  direction  and 
light."     The  great  nonconformist  poet  John  Milton 
says:  "  There  are  no  songs  to  be  compared  with  the 
songs  of  Zion,   no  orations  equal  to  those  of  the 
prophets,  and  no  politics  equal  to  those  the  Scriptures 
teach  us,"     George  Herbert,  the  poet,  writes :  "  The 
Bible,  that 's  the  book,  the  book,  the  book  of  books." 
The  great  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  the  discoverer  of  the 
law  of  gravity,  and  one  of  the  greatest  mathemati- 
cians that   ever    existed,  sa)^  of  the  Bible:  "We 
account  the  Scriptures  of  God  to  be  the  most  sublime 
philosophy."    The  genial  fisherman   Izaak  Walton 


PROLEGOMENA.  xxxi 

says  of  the  Bible :  "  Every  hour  I  read  you  kills  a  sin, 
or  lets  a  virtue  in  to  fight  against  it."    Sir  William 
Jones,  one  of  the  greatest  of  Oriental  scholars,  says: 
I  have  carefully  and  regularly  perused  these  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  volume, 
independently  of  its  Divine  origin,  contains  more  sub- 
limity, purer  morality,  more  important  history,  and 
finer  strains  of  eloquence  than  can  be  collected  from 
all  other  books,  in  whatever  language  they  may  have 
been  written."    John  Wesley  says:  "  I  want  to  know 
one  thing  — the  way  to  heaven ;  how  to  land  on  that 
happy  shore.    God  himself  has  condescended    to 
teach  the  way.    He  hath  written  it  down  in  his  book. 
Oh  give  me  that  book.     I  sit  down  alone,  only  God  is 
here.    In  his  presence  I  open,  I  read  his  book;  for 
this  end  —  to  find  the  way  to  heaven."    "  For  more 
tiian  a  thousand  years,"  said  the  poet  Coleridge,  "the 
Bib  e,  collectively  taken,  has  gone  hand  in  hand  with 
civilisation,  science,  law;  in  short,  with  the  moral  and 
mtellectual  cultivation  of  the  species,  always  support- 
ing and   often  leading  the  way."     "Bring  me  the 
book,"  said   Sir  Walter  Scott  when   he  lay  dying 
"  What  book  ? "  asked  his  son-in-law  Lockhart.    "The 
book,"  said  Sir  Walter,  "  the  Bible,  there  is  but  one." 
Lord  Macaulay,  who  knew  the  Bible  well  from  his 
childhood  and  often  refers  to  it  in  his  works,  says: 
"The  English  Bible,  —  a  book  which,  if  everything 
elsem  our  language  should  perish,  would  alone  suffice 
to  show  us  the  whole  extent  of  its  beauty  and  power." 
Charles    Dickens  wrote    to  a  son  who    afterwards 
became  an  officer  in  the  Canadian  Northwest  police 
force,  and  fought  through  the  second  Riel  rebellion : 
"  I  put  a  New  Testament  among  ycur  books  for  the 
very  same  reasons  and  with  the  very  same  hopes  that 
made  me  write  an  easy  account  of  it  for  you  when 
you  were  a  little  child  —  because  it  is  the  best  book 
that  ever  was  or  will  be  known  in  the  world,  and  be- 
cause it  teaches  you  the  best  lessons  by  which  any 
human  creature  who  tries  to  be  truthful  and  faithful  to 


k 

it  ! 


flfi 


xxxii    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

duty  can  be  guided."      The  eminent  author,  Thomas 
Carlyle.who  held  himself  independent  of  all  churches 
and  all  forms  of  Christianity,  says  of  the  Bible :  "  The 
one  book  wherein,  for  thousands  of  years,  the  spirit 
of  man  has  found  light  and  nourishment,  and  a  re- 
sponse to  whatever  was  deepest  in  his  heart."    John 
Ruskin  says:  "All  that  I  have  taught  of  art,  every- 
thmg  that  I  have  writte  i ;  whatever  greatness  there  has 
been  m  any  thought  of  mine,  whatever  I  have  done 
m  my  life,  has  simply  been  due  to  the  fact  that  when 
1  was  a  child  my  mother  daily  read  to  me  a  part  of 
the  Bible,  and  daily  made  me  learn  a  part  of  it  by 
heart."    Froude,  the  great  historian,  says :  "  The  Bible 
thoroughly  known  is  a  literature  in  itself,  — the  rarest 
and  ths  richest  in  all  departments  of  thought  or 
imagination  that  exists."    J.  H.  Green,  who  wrote  in 
recent  times  the  admirable  history  of  the  English 
people,  a  standard  text-book  in  Canadian  high-schools, 
was  an  agnostic,   but  at  the  same  time  he  was  an 
impartial  historian,  and  teJls  what  the  Bible  did  for 
the    English    people    in    the    eighteenth    century. 
"  England,"  he  says,  "  became  the  people  of  a  book, 
and  that  book  was  the  Bible.     It  was,  m  yet,  the  one 
English  book  which  was  familiar  to  every  Englishman. 
It  was  read  in  churches  and  it  was  read  at  home ;  and 
everywhere  its  words,  which  custom  had  not  deadened 
to  their  force  and  beauty,  kindled   into  a  startling 
enthusiasm."    When  all  the  ambitions  of  Napoleon 
Bonaparte  had  been  crushed  out  of  sight  forever,  and 
he  stood  a  secure  prisoner  on  the  little  island  rock  of 
St.  Helena,  he  turned  to  the  Bible  for  consolation 
and   comfort,  as  recorded   in   Bertrand's   Memoirs. 
Placing  his  hand  solemnly  upon  the  sacred  book  one 
day,  he  said :  "  I  never  omit  to  read  it,  and  everyday 
with  the  same  pleasure.    Nowhere  is  to  be  found 
such  a  series  of  beautiful  ideas,  admirable  moral 
maxims,  which  produce  in  one's  soul  the  same  emo- 
tion which    one  experiences  in  contemplating  the 
infinite  expanse  of  the  skies,  resplendent  upon  a 


PROLEGOMENA.  xxxiii 

summer's  night  with  all  the  brilliance  of  the  stars. 
Not  only  is  one's  mind  absorbed,  it  is  controlled,  and 
the  soul  can  never  go  astray  wfth  this  book  for  its 
guide."  John  Selden,  a  great  scholar,  a  great  legal 
jurist,  and  a  great  writer,  who  adorned  the  first  half  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  and  of  whom  Coleridge  said 
that  his  books  contained  more  weighty  sense  than  he 
had  ever  found  in  the  same  number  of  pages  of  any 
uninspired  writer,  declared :  "  I  have  surveyed  most 
of  the  learning  found  among  the  sons  of  men ;  but  I 
can  stay  my  soul  on  none  of  them  but  the  Bible." 

The  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  England,  Sir  Matthew 
Hale,  belonged  to  the  period  of  the  Commonwealth 
ari  the  Restoration.    Lord  Campbell,  in  his  Lives  of 
the  Lord  Chancellors,  said  of  him  that  he  is  certainly 
to  be  considered  the  most  eminent  judge  who  ever 
filled  the  office.     This  man  of  great  learning  and 
very  great  intellectual  power  says :  "  Every  morning 
read  seriously  and  reverently  a  portion  of  the  Holy 
Scripture,  and  acquaint  yourself  with  the  doctrine 
thereof.     It  is  a  book  full  of  light  and  wisdom,  and 
will  make  you  wise  to  eternal  life."    Judge  Black- 
stone,  in  his  famous  commentaries  on  the  Laws  of 
England,  says   that  "the  Bible   has    always   been 
regarded  as  part  of  the  Common  Law  of  England." 
The  brilliant  Irishman,  Edmund  Burke,  one  -f  ♦'-e 
greatest  orators  that  ever  graced  the  British  . 
of  Commons,  says:  "The  Bible  is  not  a  book,  bui  a 
literature,  and  indeed  an  infinite  collection  of  the 
most  varied    and    the    most   venerable    literature." 
VVilliam  Wilberforce,  the   great  English  philanthro- 
pist, whose  name  will  be  forever  bound  up  with  the 
abolition    of  the  slave   trade,   said    of   the    Bible: 
"Through  all  my  perplexities   I  seldom   read   any 
other  book,  and  I  as  rarely  felt  the  want  of  any  other. 
It  has  been  my  hourly  study." 

Gladstone  says:  "Who  doubts  that  times  without 
number  particular  portions  of  the  Scripture  find 
their  way  to  the  human  soul,  as  if  they  were  em- 


11 


xxxiv    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

bassies  from  on  high,  each  with  its  own  commission 
of  comfort,  of  guidance,  of  warning.    What  crisis, 
what  trouble,  what  perplexity  of  life,  has  failed  or 
can  fail  to  draw  from  t:  -s  inexhaustible  treasure- 
house  its  proper  supply?  ...  Nay  more,  perhaps, 
than  this:   amid  the  crowds  of  the  court  or  the 
forum  or  the  street  or  the  market-place,  where  every 
thought  of  every  soul  seems  to  be  set  upon  the  excite- 
ments of  ambition  or  of  business  or  of  pleasure, 
there,  too,  even  there,  the  still  small  voice  of  the 
holy  Bible  will  be  heard,  and  the  soul  aided  by  some 
blessed  word  may  find  wings  like  a  dove,  may  flee 
away  and  be  at  rest."    John  Quincy  Adams,  who, 
after  fillmg  various  high  offices  in  his  country,  be- 
came President  of  the  United  States  in  1825,  thus 
speaks  of  the  Bible:  "The  first  and  almost  the  only 
S?°'L.l"«=."''?g  pf  universal  attention  is  the  Bible. 
The  Bible  is  the  book  of  all  others,  to  be  read  at  all 
ages,  and  in  all  conditions  of  human  life.    I  speak  as 
a  man  of  the  world  to  men  of  the  world."    Andrew 
Jackson,  another  President  of  the  United  States,  when 
he  lay  on  his  death-bed,  pointing  to  the  family  Bible, 
which  was  on  a  table  beside  him,  said  to  his  physician, 

\xr    D    r       "  *^*  '°^^  °"  ***'*^^  ®"''  republic  rests." 
W.  B.  Leigh,  a   famous  Virginian  lawyer,  and   a 
Senator  of  the  United  States,  writes:  "I  advise  every 
man  to  read  his  Bible.    It  is  the  code  of  ethics  of 
every  Christian  country  on  the  globe,  and  tends, 
above  all  other  books,  to  elucidate  the  spirit  of  law 
throughout  the  Christian  world.    It  is,  in  fact,  a  part 
?[    •  f    P,'"f  *'^^^    '^*^   of  every  Christian    nation." 
Daniel  Webster,  the  great  American  orator,  stated 
that  if  there  were  anything  in  his  style  or  thoughts 
to  be  commended,  he  owed  it  to  his  parents  havine 
installed  in  his   mind,   in  early  life,  r.  love  for  the 
Scriptures."    In  his  great  speech  on  the  completion 
of  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument  (1843).  he  said :  "  The 
Bible  IS  a  book  of  faith,  and  a  book  of  doctrine,  and 
a  book  of  morals,  and  a  book  of  religion,  of  especial 


PROLEGOMENA.  xxxv 

his  death-bed,  m  1852.  his  pious  physician  quoted  to 
him  Psalm  xxiii  4:  "Yea,  though  I  waH:  through  the 

fort  „?'  •?!•"?••  *^y  •■^'^r  1"^  **>•  »^*^  »»»«y  c<"n- 

fort  me.  The  dymg  man  faltered  o;  ^  "  Yes,  that  is 
"^^y  »  T*A  ^y  ~**'  *hy  rod.  Thy  staff  thv 
t^L  ""t*^';:,?,"*''^'^  last  words,  his  spirit  passed 

Prl,iSln?'P^'  Y^!"'^'"  """'y  Seward,  who  became 
President  Lincoln's  Secretary  of  State  in  1861,  an 
eminent  junst  and  a  great  man  otherwise,  said:  "The 
whole  life  of  human  progress  is  suspended  on  the 
ever-growing  influence  of  the  Bible."  William  Lloyd 
Garrison,  who  did  more  than  any  other  man  to  blot 
S,"  S-J""/  °^  American  slavery,  said :  "  Take  away 
the  Bible  from  us,  and  our  war  against  intemper- 
ance and  impurity  and  oppression  and  infidelity  and 
crime  is  at  an  end.  We  have  no  authority  to  speak, 
no  courage  to  act.  Who,  then,  can  adequately  esti- 
mate its  immeasurable  influence  on  the  world's  ereat- 

Massachusetts  lawyer,  and  the  author  of  "  Two  Years 

S!r?i  .^frV  .*"'*  other  works,  when  addressing 
the  students  of  Union  College  in  1880,  said:  "Of  all 
books  the  most  indispensable  and  the  most  useful,  the 
one  whose  knowledge  is  most  effective,  is  the  Bible, 
ihere  is  no  book  from  which  more  valuable  lessons 
can  be  learned.  .  There  is  no  book  like  the  Bible." 
Charles  Dudley  Warner,  a  highly  gifted  American 
writer,  and  the  collaborateur  of  Mark  Twain  in  the 

f^led  to  imbibe  any  of  Mark's  sceptical  irreverence 
of  opmion.  wrote  a  few  years  ago  in  "  Harper's  Maga- 
zine :  "Wholly  apart  from  its  religious  or  from  its 
ethical  value,  the  Bible  is  the  one  book  that  no  intelli- 
gent person  who  wishes  to  come  into  contact  with  the 
world  of  thought,  and  to  share  the  ideas  of  the  ereat 
minds  of  the  Christian  era,  can  afford  to  be  ignorant 
01.    All  the  best  modern  literature  and  all  art  are 


xxxvi   THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

permeated  with  it.  .  .  .  It  if  in  'tself  almost  a  liberal 
education,  as  many  great  masters  in  literature  have 
testified.      It    has   so  entered   into   law,  literature, 
thought,  the  whole  modern  life  of  the  Christian  world, 
that  ignorance  of  it  is  a  most  serious  disadvantage  to 
the  student."    Walt  Whitman,  the  eccentric  Ameri- 
can poet,  whose  reputation  since  his  death,  a  short 
time  ago,  has  greatly  increased,  bears  high  testimony 
to  the  Bible  as  a  poetic  entity.    "  How  many  ages  and 
generations,"  he  says,  "  have  brooded  and  wept  and 
agonised    over   this    book.      What   untellable   joys 
and  ecstasies,  what  support  to  martyrs  at  the  stake, 
have  arisen  from  it.    To  what  myriads  has  it  been  the 
shore  and  rock  of  safety  —  the  refuge  from  danger 
during  tempest  and  wreck.     Translated  into  all  lan- 
guages, how  it  has  united  this  diverse  world."    At  the 
meeting  of  the  Pan-Presbyterian  Council  at  Liverpool 
in  the  summer  of  1904,  the  Rev.  TV.  H.  Van  Dyke, 
professor  of  literature  in  Princeton  University,  deliv- 
ered a  most  interesting  address  on  Christianity  and 
current  literature,  in  which  we  find  the  following 
appropriate  and  beautiful  passages: 

"  Religion  is  a  life  —  the  life  of  the  human  spirit  in  contact 
with  the  Divine.  Therefore  it  needs  a  literature  to  express 
its  meaning  and  perpetuate  its  power. 

"  It  is  the  fashion  nowadays  to  speak  scornfully  of '  a  book 
religion.'  But  where  is  the  noble  religion  without  a  book? 
Men  praise  the  '  bookless  Christ ; '  and  the  adjective  serves 
as  a  left-handed  criticism  of  his  followers.  True,  he  wrote 
no  volume ;  but  he  absorbed  one  literatuie,  the  Old  Testa- 
ment ;  and  he  inspired  another,  the  New  Testament.  How 
wonderful,  how  supreme  is  the  Bible  as  an  utterance  of  life 
in  literature !  With  what  convincing  candour  are  the  hopes 
and  fears,  the  joys  and  sonows,  the  deep  perplexities  and 
clear  visions  of  the  heart  of  man,  under  the  Divine  process 
of  education,  disclosed  in  its  pages!  What  range,  what 
mastery  of  literary  forms!  History,  biography,  essays, 
epigrams,  letters,  poetry,  fiction,  dranoa — all  are  here.  The 
thoughts  breathe  with  inspiration,  the  unconsumed  words 


PROLLGOMENA.  xxxvii 

burn  with  the  Divine  presence,  the  figure*  live  and  move. 
And  most  of  ^  the  central  figure,  the  Christ  himself,  long 
expected,  suddenly  revealed,  seen  but  for  a  moment,  imper- 
ishably  remembered,  trusted  and  adored,  stands  out  forever 
in  the  simple  words  of  a  few  brief  chapters,  the  clearest,  most 
endunng,  most  potent  personality  in  the  world's  history. 

"Christianity  owes  an  immense  part  of  its  influence  in  the 
world  tojKtay  to  the  place  of  the  Bible  in  current  literature. 
What  other  volume  is  current  in  a  sense  so  large  and  splen- 
did? What  book  is  so  widely  known,  so  often  quoted,  so 
deeply  reverenced,  so  closely  read  by  learned  and  simple, 
nch  and  poor,  old  and  young?  Wherever  it  comes  it 
ennches  and  ennobles  human  life,  opens  common  sources  of 
consolation  and  cheer,  helps  men  to  understand  and  respect 
one  another,  gives  a  loftier  tone  to  philosophy,  a  deeper 
meanuig  to  history,  and  a  purer  light  to  poetry.  Strange 
indeed  is  the  theory  of  education  that  would  exclude  this 
book,  which  Huxley  and  Arnold  called  the  most  potent  in 
the  world  for  moral  inspiration,  from  the  modem  school- 
house.  Stranger  still,  the  theory  of  religion  which  would 
m^e  of  thu  book  a  manual  of  ecclesiastical  propagandism 
rather  than  the  master-volume  of  current  literature. 

" '  Beware  of  the  man  of  one  book,'  says  the  proverb.  The 
saymg  has  two  meanings.  The  one-book  man  may  be 
^ng,  and  therefore  masterful ;  he  may  also  be  narrow,  and 
therefore  dangerous.  The  Bible  exercises  its  mightiest  and 
most  beneficent  influence,  not  when  it  is  substituted  for  all 
other  books,  but  when  it  pervades  all  literature." 

The  cloud  of  witnesses  we  have  produced  from  all 
ranks  of  intellectual  greatness  clearly  demonstrates 
the  high  moral,  religious,  and  literary  plane  on  which 
the  grand  old  Bible  stands  to-day  in  the  estimation 
of  many  of  the  foremost  men  of  the  world.  The  fa- 
vourable opinions  of  hundreds  of  other  witnesses, 
equally  great,  could  also  be  put  in  evidence  were  it 
necessary  to  do  so.  But  we  have  adduced  sufficient 
testimony  to  constitute  a  full  practical  answer  to  the 
adverse  Biblical  critics  of  the  higher-criticism  cult,  and 
that  smaller  type  of  its  disciples  who,  when  they  are 
mcapable  of  saying  very  little  else,  sneer  at  the  im- 


xxxviti    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

moralities  of  the  Old  Testunent  Scriptures.    These 
Scriptures,  we  may  state,  supply  us  with  the  plain 
history   of  an    ancient,   rough,    direct-spoken  ori- 
ental  people,  who  never  hesitated  to  call  a  spade  a 
spade,  and  recorded  facts  just  as  they  were  presented 
to  notice.    The  Old  Testament  gives  us  a  naked  his- 
tonr  of  human  nature,  the  only  one  which  could  pos- 
sibly be  of  any  real  value,  and  tells  us  plainly  of  its 
infirmities  and  its  sins,  be  they  gross  or  venial,  as 
a  warning  to  future  generations.    And    when    we 
soberly  reflect  that  every  impure  sin  of  ancient  times 
exists  in  active  force  to-day,  however  it  may  be 
cloaked  from  the  public  eye,  we  realise  how  fully  the 
•  terrible  warnings  of  the  Bible  are  still  needed.    Much 
of  the  Pentateuch  constitutes  a  code  of  statute  law 
from  which  the  Christian  world  has  largely  drawn  its 
legislation,  and  crimes  have  to  be  accordingly  de- 
scribed in  the  plainest  manner.     Our  medical  books 
have  to  be  equally  explicit  with  regard  to  the  numer- 
ous diseases  incident  to  human  life.    This  condition 
of  things  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the  good  of  so- 
ciety.   But  it  should  always  be  remembered  that  to 
the  pure  all  things  are  pure.    Many  readers  of  English 
his*ory  will  no  doubt  recollect  the  coarse,  the  vulgar 
.'    1  jven  indecent,  language  that  characterised  the 
per  ud  lying  between  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  and  the 
last  of  the  Georges,  and  which  would  not  now  be  tol- 
erated for  a  moment  in  respectable  society.    Exam- 
Eles  of  this  coarseness  may  be  found  in  the  works  of 
lean  Swift,  in  Sterne's  "Sentimental  Journey,"  in 
"  Roderick  Random,"  in  Fielding's  "  Tom  Jones,"  and 
in  other  works  of  that  day.     But  if  society  is  now  more 
decent  in  its  language,  our  divorce  and  other  courts 
show  what  rottenness  and  sin  still  prevail  below  its   jr- 
face,  and  that  human  nature  without  God  and  the  Bible 
is  still  as  depraved  as  at  any  former  period.     "  It  ap- 
pears to  me,"  says  Huxley, "  that  if  there  is  anybody 
more  objectionable  than  the  orthodox  bibliolater  it 
is  the  heterodox  Philistine,  who  _an  discover  in  a  lit- 


PROLEGOMENA. 


erature  which  in  some  retpecu  hat  no  superior,  noth- 

5'  j«  *.  ■  "",*j^f **  ^^'  •offing.  «nd  an  occasion  for 
the  display  of  h»  conceited  ignorance  of  the  debt  he 
^'i!*}^  '°"»«'  generations."  The  human  race,  he 
added,  is  not  yet,  possibly  never  may  be,  in  a  position 
to  dispense  with  the  Bible.!  »'«••"«» 

"  Men,"  says  an  eminent  English  divine,  "  have 
misused  bcripture  just  as  they  misuse  light  or  food. 
And  yet  the  Holy  Scriptures  continue  to  be  — and 
even  increasingly  to  be —the  Supreme  Bible  of  hu- 
manity. There  could  be  no  more  decisive  proof  of 
the  unique  transcendence  of  Holy  Writ,  and  its  es- 
sential message  to  mankind,  than  the  fact  that  it  has 
not  only  triumphed  with  ease  over  the  assaults  of  its 
enemies,  but  has  also  continued  to  command  the  rev- 
erence, to  guide  the  thoughts,  to  educate  the  souls,  to 
kindle  the  moral  aspirations  of  men,  tijroughout  the 
world.  •  " 

As  we  have  already  seen,  eminent  literary  men,  not 
only  outside  tiie  pale  of  all   church  influence,  but 
within  the  pale  of  avowed  heresy  and  even  scepticism, 
have  spoken  of  the  Bible  and  its  many  excellences 
not  merely  with  astonishment  but  also  with  honest 
admiration.    The  late  Dean  Farrar,  a  man  of  great 
literary  ability  and  of  wide  reading,  became  a  convert 
to  tile  principles  of  the  earlier  and  more  moderate 
phases  of  the  higher  criticism.     But  at  tiie  same  time 
if  ^^^V  ^*****'  *°  believe  in  the  Divine  Humanity  of 
the  Redeemer,  and  always  regarded  him,  with  Atha- 
nasius,  as  perfect  God  and  perfect  man.    We  will  now 
add  a  quotation  from  this  celebrated  although  at  times 
mistaken  divine,  as  the  most  fitting  termination  to 
our  Prolegomena:     "The  Bible  is  amply  sufficient 
for  our  instruction  in  all  those  truths  which  are  neces- 
sary to  salvation.     Its  final  teaching  is  our  surest 
guide  to  all  holiness.     We  hear  the  voice  of  God 
breathing  through  it ;  we  see  the  hand  of  God  at  work 

*  Essays  on  Controverted  Questions,  pp.  «c-e8 
'  Supremacy  of  the  Bible,  p.  26  •'•'  JJ  J" 


xl  THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

in  its  preservation  for  the  human  race.  The  Bible  con- 
tains the  historic  revelation  of  the  eternal  Christ 
And  in  the  Old  as  well  as  in  the  New  Testament  we  may 
and  do  find  the  promise  of  a  Redeemer  and  of  his 
good-will  towards  us.  In  everything  which  is  neces- 
sary for  man's  salvation,  the  lessons  contained  in 
Scripture,  with  the  co-ordinate  help  of  that  Spirit 
by  whom  its  writers  were  moved  to  aid  us  in  our  dis- 
crimination, are  an  infallible  guide  to  us  in  things 
necessary.  This  we  hold  with  all  our  hearts,  and  for 
this  we  thank  God  continually.  But  this  is  wholly 
different  from  the  assertion  that  the  Bible  is  through- 
out and  in  all  respects  infallible  or  inerrant^ 

1  Supremuy  of  the  Bible,  p.  15a 


THE 


SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


■Iji 

ri 


THE 

SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  CREATION  CONSIDERED  FROM  AN  ASTRO- 
NOMICAL POINT  OF  VIEW. 

Of  all  the  principal  departments  of  human  knowl- 
edge, there  are  none  that  point  so  clearly  to  the  hand 
of  a  Creator,  of  a  great  First  Cause,  ;^3  the  science 
of  astronomy,   which    deals    with   the    distribution, 
motions,  and  characteristics  of  the  heavenly  bodies. 
The  changes  from  day  to  night,  the  diyrnal  course  of 
the  sun,  the  annual  succession  of  summer  and  winter 
of  seedtime  and  harvest,  could  not  fail  to  awaken 
attention  and  interest   among  the  rudest  and  least 
civilised  races  of  mankind.   The  moon,  in  the  absence 
of  the  sun,  is  at  once  so  conspicuous  and  so  useful 
that  Its  motions  and  varying  phases,  its  disappearance 
and  return  at  regular  intervals  of  time,  must  have 
been  observed  with  the  greatest  attention  from  the 
earliest  period  of  man's  existence  on  our  planet.     As 
higher  planes  of  civilisation  were  attained,  the  occur- 
rence   of  eclipses    and   other  unusual    phenomena 
would  naturally  stimulate  a  closer  scrutiny  of  the 
celestial    bodies.     By-and-by  the   spectacle   of  the 
starry  heavens,  resplendent  in  their  glorious  beauty, 
and  apparently  unchangeable  save  for  the  movements 
of  a  few  wandering  orbs  within  their  own  spheres, 
suggested  the  idea  that  the  stars  in  some  inexplicable 
way  influenced  the  destinies  of  nations  as  well  as  of 

3 


4       THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

individuals.  From  this  idea  arose  the  superstition 
of  astrology,  which  for  many  centuries  exercised  a 
potent  influence  on  the  minds  of  men,  and  stimulated 
them  to  renewed  astronomical  research.  It  was 
presently  realised  that  a  knowledge  of  the  regular 
and  uniform  motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies  could  be 
rendered  subservient  to  the  wants  and  convenience 
of  mankind.  By  the  assistance  of  the  stars  the  shep- 
herd during  the  night  could  count  the  hours,  the 
traveller  guide  his  course  through  the  sand  deserts  of 
the  East,  the  mariner  navigate  his  ship  over  the  track- 
less ocean.  As  civilisation  progressed,  the  necessity 
of  determining  accurately  the  respective  lengths  of 
the  solar  year  and  the  lunar  month  in  order  to  regu- 
late the  calendar  and  the  religious  festivals,  led  to  the 
examination  and  comparison  of  different  observa- 
tions. In  this  way  errors  were  gradually  diminished, 
and  the  basis  of  a  more  perfect  system  laid. 

Under  all  these  stimulating  circumstances  astron- 
omy could  not  fail  to  be  one  of  the  first  sciences  cul- 
tivated by  mankind.  Its  origin  is  consequently  hid 
amid  the  obscurity  of  that  remote  period  of  human 
history  across  which  the  Deluge  drew  its  impen- 
etrable curtain.  But  whatever  knowledge  of  the 
science  had  been  accumulated  by  antediluvian 
peoples  was  no  doubt  in  full  possession  of  Noah  and 
his  sons,  who  necessarily  imparted  that  knowledge 
to  their  immediate  posterity.  Recent  archzological 
discovery  in  Babylonia  has  shown  that  the  original 
inhabitants  of  that  ancient  country  had  a  much  better 
and  wider  knowledge  of  astronomy  than  the  Egyp- 
tians of  the  same  period.  It  was  taught,  in  connec- 
tion with  mathematics  and  astrology,  in  the  great 
temple  schools  and  colleges  existing  in  the  chief 
centres  of  population,  not  only  in  Babylonia  but  also 
in  Mesopotamia,  by  the  priests  and  their  lay  assist- 
ants many  centuries  before  the  time  of  Abraham. 
The  great  plains  and  cloudless  horizon  of  these 
Eastern  climes  gave  their  educated  classes  the  most 


i  ■• 


THE  CREATION  AND  ASTRONOMY.      5 

ample  facilities  for  making  observations  of  the  mo- 
tions of  the  heavenly  bodies.  By  many  centuries  of 
continued  observation  they  had  discovered  the  cycle 
of  223  lunations,  or  18  solar  years,  which  by  bringing 
the  moon  back  to  nearly  the  same  position  with 
respect  to  her  nodes,  her  perigee,  and  the  sun,  brings 
also  back  the  eclipses  in  the  same  order.  But  at  the 
same  time  their  knowledge  of  astronomy  may  be 
said  to  have  been  purely  empirical  in  its  character, 
and  to  be  destitute  of  that  essential  accuracy,  from  a 
mathematical  standpoint,  which  now  so  largely  be- 
longs to  the  science. 

All  the  ancient  nations  of  history  were  more  or  less 
acquainted  with  astronomy.  In  the  fifth  century  B.  c. 
the  golden  number,  still  in  ecclesiastical  use,  became 
known.  In  the  following  century  the  year  was  divided 
into  36SJ  days.  The  Alexandrian  schools  of  phi- 
losophy and  the  exact  sciences,  founded  during  the 
long  reign  of  the  first  Ptolemy,  which  endured  from 
323  to  285  B.  c,  by  the  great  mathematician  Eucli'' 
whose  "Elements"  are  still  in  use,  did  much  to  a 
vance  the  study  of  astronon  •  The  calculations 
Hipparchus.who  flourished  somewhat  later,  made  the 
length  of  the  tropical  year  365  days,  5  hours,  and 
49  minutes,  which  is  only  twelve  seconds  greater 
toan  the  exact  quantity.  Ptolemy,  who  lived  in  the 
first  half  of  the  second  century  of  the  Christian  era, 
was  the  last  of  the  great  astronomers  of  the  Alexan- 
drian school,!  and  for  many  centuries  after  his  death 

»  Ptolemy's  explanations  of  the  relations  of  the  earth  to  the 
heavens,  although  largely  founded  on  error,  were  accepted  as  the 
true  basis  of  astronomical  science  for  a  period  covering  about  i.qoo 
years.  He  taught  that  heaven  is  of  a  spherical  form?  and  that  it 
moves  after  the  manner  of  a  sphere;  that  the  earth  is  of  the  same 
form,  and  is  the  centre  of  the  teavens,  and  has  not  any  motion  of 
ttanslation.  He  says  that  some  have  held  that  the  earth  revolves  on 
Its  own  axis,  but  regards  this  idea  as  altogether  ridiculous.  The 
members  of  the  Inquisition  at  Rome,  when  they  condemned  Galileo 
tor  maintaining  the  converse  of  Ptolemy's  teachings,  avowed  them- 
selves as  believers  in  the  latter.  The  Copernican  system,  althoueh 
imperfect  in  many  of  its  details,  established  the  opposite  of  the 
Ptolemaic  system. 


Ill 


6      THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


but  little  progress  was  made  in  the  science.  Its  study 
was  at  length  revived,  in  850  A.D.,  in  its  ancient  home 
in  Mesopotamia,  by  an  Arabian  prince ;  and  in  the 
fifteenth  century  Ulugh  Beg,  a  grandson  of  the  great 
Tartar  conqueror  Tamerlane,  established  an  academy 
of  astronomers  at  his  capital,  Samarkand,  and  caused 
the  most  magnificent  instruments  to  be  constructed 
for  their  use.  In  the  fifteenth  century  the  science 
of  astronomy  began  to  attract  attention  in  Europe. 
The  discoveries  of  Copernicus,  a  German  mathe- 
matician and  astronomer,  in  the  earlier  decades  of 
the  sixteenth  century  led  to  the  founding  of  what  is 
known  as  the  Copernican  system.  Towards  the  latter 
part  of  the  same  century  Tycho  Brahe,  the  eminent 
Danish  astronomer,  achieved  much  distinction,  and 
was  visited  by  James  I.,  of  England,  during  his  stay 
in  Denmark  in  order  to  marry  the  Princess  Anne. 
Shortly  before  his  death  at  Prague,  in  October,  1601, 
Tycho  Brahe  was  joined  by  Kepler,  who  owes  his 
fame  to  the  lessons  of  careful  observation  and 
cautious  inference  which  the  Danish  scientist  im- 
pressed upon  him.  In  his  younger  days  Kepler  was 
surrounded  with  difhculties  and  encountered  mis- 
fortunes of  one  kind  or  another.  He  was  afterwards 
engaged  in  compiling  astrological  almanacs,  and 
endeavoured  to  master  the  rules  of  the  art  as  laid 
down  by  Ptolemy  and  Cardan.  On  the  death  of 
Tycho  Brahe  the  Emperor  Rudolph  II.  appointed 
Kepler  as  his  successor,  and  a  brilliant  career  now 
lay  open  before  him.  He  declared  the  sun  to  be  the 
great  centre  of  the  planetary  system,  and  is  re- 
garded as  the  founder  of  physical  astronomy.  Like 
his  great  Danish  predecessor,  he  died  at  an  early  age, 
in  1630,  but  not  until  he  had  greatly  broadened  the 
world's  scientific  knowledge.  Contemporary  with 
Kepler  was  the  illustrious  Galileo,  who  invented  a 
telescope  for  his  own  use.  Although  of  small  mag- 
nifying power,  he  made  with  its  assistance  several 
important  discoveries  in  the  planetary  system,  which 


THE  CREATION  AND  ASTRONOMY.      7 

proved  that    the  substances  forming   the    celestial 
bodies  are  similar  to  those  of  the  earth,  and  thus 
demolished  the  Aristotelian  position  as  to  their  divine 
essence  and  incorruptible  nature.    Like  Copernicus, 
Galileo  taught  that  the  sun  was  the  centre  of  the  solar 
system,  and  that  the  earth  has  a  diurnal  motion  of 
rotation.     His  views  were  condemned  in  1616  by  the 
Inquisition  at  Rome,  as  bad  philosophy  and  formally 
heretical,  because  expressly  contrary  to  Holy  Scrip- 
ture ;  and  he  was  ordered  by  the  Pope  not  to  hold, 
teach,  or  defend  the  condemned  doctrine,  —  an  injunc- 
tion  he  promised   to  obey.     Fourteen  years  after- 
wards, however,  he  violated  this  order.     This  led  to 
his  being  brought  in  1633  before  the  Inquisition  at 
Rome.     He  was  again  condemned  for  his  heretical 
opinions,  and  for  violating  the  former  order  made 
against    him,   and   under   a    threat  of  torture  was 
ordered  to  recant  his  opinions.     He  read  his  recanta- 
tion publicly  in  a  church  at  Rom*?,  was  then  sentenced 
to  be  imprisoned  during  the  pleasure  of  the  tribunal, 
and  enjoined  to  recite  once  a  week  for  three  years  the 
seven  penitential  Psalms.   In  1642  he  closed  a  long  life 
at  the  age  of  seventy-eight,  during  which  he  made 
great  additions  to  astronomical  science,  and  won  im- 
perishable reputation  for  himself.    While  astronomy 
was  making  rapid  advances  in  the  hands  of  Kepler  and 
Galileo,  the  progress  of  the  science  was  greatly  ac- 
celerated by  the   invention  of  logarithms  by  Lord 
Napier,  a  native   of  Scotland,  which    reduced  the 
labour  of  months  hitherto  passed  in  tedious  calcula- 
tions to  the  limits  of  a  few  days. 

The  seventeenth  century  was  remarkable,  in  the 
history  of  mankind,  for  the  rapid  development  of  the 
human  intellect,  and  for  great  and  important  discov- 
eries. It  is  distinguished  by  the  invention  of  the 
pendulum,  and  its  application  to  the  measurement  of 
time ;  the  invention  of  the  telescope,  bringing  within 
the  range  of  the  eye  the  phenomena  of  new  worlds, 
of  logarithms,  and  of  the  mechanical  contrivances  for 


8       THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


I  ''[ 


measuring  minute  angles  in  the  heavens.  The  same 
century  witnessed  also  the  application  of  algebra  to 
geometry ;  the  discovery  of  the  laws  of  the  planetary 
motions ;  of  the  infinitesimal  calculus ;  the  accelera- 
tion of  falling  bodies ;  the  sublime  theory  of  the  cen- 
tral forces;  and  the  great  principle  of  gravitation, 
which  connects  the  celestial  bodies  and  regulates 
their  motions.  These  discoveries  opened  a  new 
world  of '  nowledge  to  the  astronomer,  and  raised  his 
science  to  a  vastly  higher  plane  of  human  thought. 
But  the  great  event  of  the  century  was  unquestion- 
ably Newton's  *  unfolding  of  the  law  of  gravity.     He 

1  .Sir  Isaac  Newton,  the  greatest  of  England's  mathematidans  and 
astronomers,  was  the  son  of  a  small  land-owner,  and  was  bom  in 
Lincolnshire  in   December,   1643,  a  few  months  after  his  father's 
death.    His  mother  planned  that  he  should  be  a  farmer,  but  he  dis- 
played such  an  aptitudq  for  mechanical  invention  that  he  was  sent 
back  to  school,  and  afterwards  became  a  graduate  of  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge.     In  January,  1665,  Newton  took  the  degree  of    B.A. 
and  afterwards  so  distinguished  himself  that  in  1667  he  was  elected 
a  fellow  of  his  college,  and  became  a  M.A.  in  the  following  year.    In 
January,  167J,  he  was  elected  a  fellow  of  the  Royal  Society.    In 
1686,  when  Tames  II.,  in  open  violation  of  the  law,  conferred  the 
deanery  of  Christ  Church,  at  Oxford,  on  John  Massey,  whose  sole 
Qualification  was  that  he  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  that  king  boasted 
that  what  he  had  done  at  Oxford  would  very  soon  be  also  done  at 
Cambridge.    Accordingly,  i     February,   1M7,  he   issued  an  order 
directing  that  Father  Allan  Francis,  a  Benedictine  monk,  should  be 
admitted  as  a  Master  of  Arts  at  the  latter  university  without  taking 
the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy.    Newton  was  among  those 
who  stoutly  opposed  this  illegal  appomtment,  and  with  seven  other 
college  deputies  appeared  before  the  High  Commission  to  support 
their  pleas  of  objection.    The  infamous  Judge  Jeffreys  was  the  pres- 
ident  of  the  court,  treated  the  Cambridge  deputies  with  his  usual 
violence  of  speech,  and  insolently  dismissed  the  case.     The  king  and 
the  monk  were  alike  inexorable,  and  the  court  and  the  university  were 
now  in  direct  conflict.     In  January,  1689,  Newton  was  chosen  as  one 
of  the  representatives  of  the  University  in  Parliament.    In  1694  he 
was  appointed  warden  of  the  mint  at  a  salary  of  £^  *  7^*^,  and  in 
that  position  his  great  chemical  and  mathematical  knoiirledge  enabled 
him  to  render  important  services  to  the  State  :n  carr/ir.g  out  the  re- 
coinage.    In   1697  he  became  master  of  the  mint,  a  position  worth 
over  ;f  1,200  per  annum.    In  1687  he  published  the  "  Principia,"  a  work 
which  raised  his  reputation  as  a  mathematician  and  astronomer  to 
the  highest  point  all  over  Europe.     In  1703    Newton  was  elected 
president  of  the  Royal  Society,  one  of  the  fellows  of  which  at  the 
time  was  Prince  George  of  Denmark,  Queen  Anne's  husband.     In 


M 


THE  CREATION  AND  ASTRONOMY.     9 
clearly  demonstrated,  in  his  "Principia."  that  the  mo- 

a  tt'^^  ^*^'"  ^C*^'^  P'»"«^»'y  system  aJeregC: 
lated  by  the  influence  of  this  law;  and  although  he  did 
not  bring  all  the  details  of  his  wonderful  discovery  to 
perfection,  every  subsequent  discovery  by  other  as- 

wrvTJ."    M  u"'^  **''?^5J^  to  strengthen  and  confirm 
bs  y  ews.  which  also  laid  a  lasting  foundation  for  an 
accurate  system  of  physical  astronomy.      The  re- 
searches towards  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century 
th.  «lT'f  "*  F/«nch  astronomer.  Laplace,  embraced 
k1!„  I  ft  •  ""^  of  gravitation,  and  perfected  what  had 
•J  I-    incomplete  by  his  predecessors.    "  Gravity," 
said  Sir  John  Herschel  in  1830,  "  is  a  real  power,  of 
whose  agency  we  have  daily  experience.     We  know 
tnat  It  extends  to  the  greatest  accessible  heights  and 
tar  beyond ;  and  we  see  no  reason  for  drawing  a  line 
at  any  particular  height  and  asserting  that  there  it 
must  cease  entirely.    We  are  sure  that  the  moon  is 
urged  towards  the  earth  by  some  power  which  retains 

un!"vi;i"'  °''^M      "  ^''^'y  P*'"*''^''^  °f  ""^^^^  5n  the 
universe,   says  Newton.  "  attracts  every  other  particle 

with  a  force  direcUy  proportioned  to  the  mass  of  the 
attracting  particle,  and  inversely  to  the  square  of 
the  difference  between  them."  "Henceforth,  then." 
continues  Herschel  "we  must  consent  to  dismiss 
all  Idea  of  the  earth's  immobility,  and  transfer  that 
attribute  to  the  sun.  whose  ponderous  mass  is  calcu- 
lated to  exhaust  the  feeble  attractions  of  such  com- 
parative atoms  as  the  earth  and  moon  without  beine 
perceptibly  dragged  from  its  place.  Their  centre  of 
gravity  lies,  as  we  have  already  hinted,  almost  close 
to  the  centre  of  the  solar  globe,  at  an  interval  quite 

April,  1705,  when  the  members  of  the  royal  family  were  stavine  at 
their  residfen-  in  Newmarlcet,  her  Majesty  went  In  state  to  Cai^ 
bridge  and  conferred  the  honour  of  knighthood  on  "he  most  distil 
fhet'l^^r"  '">H*"'',Sir  Isaac  xlwton  was  equalirpopular  Tt 
the  court  of  George  I.,  and  after  rendering  the  greatest  seVvTces  to  the 


1 


I! 


!       I 


10    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

imperceptible  from  our  distance ;  and  whether  we  re- 
gard the  earth's  orbit  as  being  performed  about  the 
one  or  the  other,  makes  no  appreciable  diflerence  in 
any  one  phenomenon  of  astronomy."    Lagrange,  the 
Italian-born  contemporary  of  Laplace,  was  almost 
equally  distinguished  with  the  latter  in  perfecting 
the  Newtonian  law  of  gravity.    Both  these  eminent 
astronomers  almost  simultaneously  demonstrated  the 
invariability  of  the  mean  distances  of  the  planets 
from  the  sun.    From  this  conclusion,  which  is  a  neces- 
sary consequence  of  the  peculiar  conditions  of  the 
planetary  system,  it  results  that  all  the  changes  to 
which  the  orbits  of  the  planets  are  subject,  owing  to 
their  reciprocal  gravitation,  are  periodic ;  and  that  the 
system  contains  within  itself  no  principle  of  destruc- 
tion, but  is  calculated  to  endure  forever.      The  an- 
nouncement by  Laplace,  in  1787,  of  the  dependence 
of  lunar  acceleration  upon  the  secular  changes  in  the 
eccentricity  of  the  earth's  orbit  destroyed  the  only 
rempining  anomaly  in  astronomy,  and  the  last  threat 
of  instability  thus  disappeared  from  the  solar  system. 
Laplace  died  in  1827,  >n  his  seventy-eighth  year,  and 
as  he  continued  his  investigations  to  a  very  late 
period  of  his  life,  they  may  be  regarded  as  fully  cov- 
ering the  first   quarter  of  the    past  century.      In 
modern  astronomy  he  ranks  immediately  after  New- 
ton.     His  agnostic  tendencies,  which  led  him  into 
speculative  vagaries,  form  the  only  blot  upon  his  mem- 
ory.   Lagrange,  who  takes  astronomical  rank  imme- 
diately behind  him,  had  preceded  him  to  the  grave  in 
April,  1813. 

With  Sir  William  Herschel,  an  astronomer  of  great 
mechanical  genius,  who  flourished  in  England  during 
the  reigns  of  its  two  last  Georges,  commenced  the 
period  of  those  great  telescopes  which  to-day  are 
found  in  all  the  leading  observatories  of  the  v/orid. 
In  August,  1789,  Herschel  found  himself  in  possession 
of  an  instrument  with  40  feet  focal  length  and  4  feet 
aperture,  and  during  the  following  night  a  new  world 


THE  CREATION  AND  ASTRONOMY,    ii 
hit^JF  ''«''!"  '*y  "fPP*'*  <>"*  ^f°'^  him  in  the 

Si  If ^f.  '^''*  ^''^V^*  »""•  "•**  °"f  P'«"«t.  'evolves 
upon  Its  own  axis;  that  the  stars  are  also  obedient  to 

the  law  of  gravitation,  and  like  our  solar  system  cir- 
culate round  each  other.  After  a  life  of  great  use- 
fulness in  astronomical  discovery  he  died  in  1822,  in 

SL"§^  K  ",'^t  y".'  °^  h'»  *?«•    H«  only  son.  Sir 
John  Herschel,  born  in  i;92,  also  became  a  great  as- 
tronomer.and  flourished  until  1871.     Hewas  a  hiehly 
educated  and  accomplished  man,  who  verified  much 
of  his  father  s  scientific  work,  and  for  his  eminent 
services  to  the  cause  of  astronomical  knowledge  was 
knighted   by  William  IV.  in   1831.    With  the  two 
Herschels  the  golden  era  of  astronomical  research 
and  discovery  may  be  said  to  have  terminated.    The 
science  of  astronomy  almost  became  a  fixed  one, 
and  Its  accuracy  as  regards  all  its  general  principles 
mathematically  demonstrated.     As  a  matter  of  course 
the  astronomers  of  our  own  day  and  generation  will 
continue  to  make  new  discoveries  as  regards  details, 
and  fill  up  more  perfectly  the  grand  outlines  already 
laid  down.    The  discovery  ofthe  spectroscope  en- 
ables the  observer  to  measure  the  speed  at  which  the 
stara  are  moving,  and  we  now  know  that  light  travels 
at  the  rate  of  185.000  miles  a  second.    A  number  of 
the  heavenly  bodies  have  been  photographed   and 
their  varying  phases  in  this  way  established.     It  takes 
a  quarter  of  a  century  for  the  light  of  some  of  the 
stars  to  reach  this  earth.    The  beautiful  star  Vega  is 
situated  at  such  an  immense  distance  from  us  that 
about  eighteen  years  are  taken  in  its  light-transmis- 
!i°1  !2"™«y  *o  this  planet.     We  now  know  positively 
that  Galileo  s  statement  that  the  celestial  bodies  are 
formed  out  of  the  same  materials  as  this  earth  is  lit- 
erally correct ;  and  that  even  the  sun  forms  no  excep- 
tion to  the  rule,  and  is  not  a  gaseous  but  a  solid  body, 
surrounded    by  a  vast  luminous  atmosphere.     By 
the  aid  of  the  spectrum  analysis  it  has  been  discov^ 


13     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


I 


ered  that  more  than  thirty  of  the  organic  elements 
of  the  earth  are  also  present  in  the  sun.  Among 
these  we  may  especially  draw  attention  to  Iron,  which 
appears  to  be  one  of  the  most  widely  distributed  of 
all  the  elementary  bodies.  It  is  quite  possible  that 
the  gaseous  envelope  of  the  sun  is  largely  composed 
of  the  recently  discovered  rhadium,  or  some  kindred 
element  We  also  know  that  all  the  planets  travel 
uniformly  in  the  same  direction  around  the  sun,  and 
rotate  upon  their  own  axes,  just  like  the  earth. 

In  order  to  enable  our  readers  to  comprehend  more 
fully  the  vast  extent  of  the  universe,  we  will  now 
give  a  brief  sketch  of  the  different  planets,  and  their 
distance  from  the  sun,  as  the  centre  of  the  solar  sys- 
tem.    Mercury  is  ,3,060  miles  in  diameter,  and  its 
mean  distance  from  the  sun  is  35,000,000  miles.     It 
rotates  on  its  axis  in  a  little  over  24  hours,  and  per- 
forms its  journey  around  the  sun  within   a  small 
fraction  of  88  days.   Venus  is  7,5 10  miles  in  diameter, 
and  its  mean  distance  from  the   sun  is  66,000,000 
miles.     It  rotates  on  its  own  axis  in  23^  hours,  and 
performs  its  journey  around  the  sun  in  less  than  225 
days.    The  earth  comes  next  in  order.     Its  diameter 
js  7.92  5  08  miles,  its  circumference  24.899  miles,  and 
its  mean  distance  from  the  sun  91,430,000  miles.     It 
rotates  on  its  own  axis  every  24  hours,  and  per- 
forms its  annual  journey  around  the  sun  in  365  days, 
5  hours,  and  49  minutes  less  12  seconds.     Mars  is 
4,400  miles  in  diameter,  and  its  mean  distance  from 
the  sun  is  1 39,000,000  miles.     It  rotates  on  its  axis 
in  about  24J  hours,  and  pei;orms  its  journey  around 
the  sun  in  688  days,     /upiter  is  85,000  miles  in  di- 
ameter, and   is   about  twelve  hundred   times  larger 
than  the  earth.     Its  mean  distance  from  the  sun  is 
475,692,000  miles.     Its  journey  around  the  sun  takes 
II  years,  315  days,  and  its  seasons  are  nearly  twelve 
times  as  long  as  ours.     Saturn  comes  next  to  Jupiter 
in  size,  and  exceeds  by  nearly  three  times  the  com- 
bined mass  of  all  the  other  planets,  its  diameter  being 


THE  CREATION  AND  ASTRONOMV.     13 

about  70.000  mile«.    It  it  the  sixth  planet  in  order 

of  diitance  from  the  tun,  from  which  it  is  separated 

by  872,137,000  miles.    It  rotates  on  its  own  axis  in 

lo]  hourt;  and  its  journey  around  the  tun  takes  29 

years,  167  days.    Uranus  is  the  seventh  primary  planet. 

Its  mean  distance    from    the  sun   is    1,753,869,000 

miles,  and  its  diameter  33,247   miles.     Its  journey 

around  the  sun  is  performed  in  84  years,  61  days. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  Uranus  rotates  on  its  axis 

in  9j  hours,  but  the  evidence  on  which  this  state- 

ment  rests  is  slight  and  insufficient.    The  planet  Nep 

tune  was  discovered  in  1846  by  Professor  Galle,  of 

Berhn.  Its  mean  distance  from  the  sun  is  2,745 .988,000 

miles,  and   its   journey  around  that    orb  occupies 

about  166  veart.     Its  diameter  is  37,276  miles.    The 

distance  of  Neptune  from  the  earth  is  so  great  that 

Its  appearance,  when  seen  through  the  most  powerful 

telescopes,  is  only  that  of  a  star  of  the  smallest  size. 

We  may  add  that  our  moon  circles  the  earth,  at  a 

distance  of  238,818  miles  therefrom,  once  in  every 

lunar  month.    Its  diameter  is  2,160  miles,  a  little 

more  than  a  quarter  of  that  of  the  earth. 

The  brief  sketch  we  have  given  of  the  progress  of 
astronomy,  from  the  earliest  dawn  of  history  to  the 
present  time,  will  enable  the  reader  to  comprehend 
with  sufficient  clearness  the  true  character  of  the 
science,  and  what  it  teaches  within  the  legitimate 
limits  of  mathematical  demonstration  and  sound 
inductive  reason.  So  far  we  are  confronted  by 
honest  investigation  which  cannot  fail  to  carry  con- 
viction  to  every  unbiassed  mind.  Up  to  this  point 
we  see  nothing  whatever  to  conflict  with  the  Mosaic 
narrative  of  the  Creation,  but.  on  the  contrary,  much 
substantial  evidence  to  sustain  and  confirm  it,  as  we 
shall  show  hereafter. 

The  universe  in  which  we  exist  is  in  every  sense  a 
wonderful  one,  not  only  as  regards  its  boundless 
extent,  but  also  as  regards  the  numerous  facts  and 
objects  it  presents  for  our  most  profound  considera- 


I 


14     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE   BIBLE. 

tion.  It  may  be  said  to  represent  a  vast  hollow  globe 
or  sphere,  surrounding  this  earth  of  ours  in  every 
direction,  the  concave  side  of  which  is  studded  with 
innumerable  stars  nearly  all  moving  about  in  their 
own  orbits,  in  obedience  to  the  universally  governing 
law  of  gravitation.  Of  the  convex  side  of  this  globe, 
and  of  the  vastly  more  extensive  regions  of  space 
which  lie  beyond  it,  we  have  no  knowledge  or  even 
adequate  conception  whatever.  The  ancient  Hebrew 
people,  owing  to  various  passages  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment which  favoured  the  idea,  believed  in  three 
heavens.  The  first  is  the  aerial  heaven,  whece  the 
birds  fly,  the  winds  blow,  and  the  showers  are  formed. 
The  second  heaven  is  the  firmament,  wherein  the 
stars  are  disposed..  Beyond  that  firmament,  and  on 
its  convex  side,  is  situated  the  heaven  of  heavens,  or 
the  third  heaven,  the  place  of  God's  residence,  the 
dwelling  of  angels  and  of  the  redeemed.  This  is  the 
true  palace  of  God,  where  he  reigns  in  everlasting 
peace,  entirely  separaied  from  the  impurities  and 
imperfections,  the  alterations  and  troubles  of  the 
lower  world. 

"  The  more  I  know,"  said  the  '  nmortal  Newton,"  the 
more  I  find  I  do  not  know."  That  wise  admission 
embodies  the  true  condition  of  the  human  mind, 
which  must  always  be  content  to  penetrate  only  in 
part,  and  perhaps  the  smallest  part,  into  our  physical 
environments.  The  human  mind  is  bound  by  the 
limits  of  finite  laws,  and  is  unequal,  therefore,  to  the 
comprehension  of  the  infinite,  which  has  no  beginning 
and  no  end.  In  this  world  we  see  through  a  glass 
darkly,  and  know  things  only  in  part,  as  St.  Paul 
said  to  the  Corinthians,^  but  in  the  world  to  come  all 
the  mysteries  in  nature  that  are  now  wholly  or  par- 
tially hid  from  us  will  be  made  plain.  But  already 
acquired  human  knowledge  now  enables  us  to  form  a 
fairly  clear  conception  of  the  condition  of  things  on 
the  concave  side  of  the  vast  globe  represented  by  the 

*  I  Corinthians  xiii.  12. 


1^ 


THE   CREATION  AND  ASTRONOMY.     15 

universe.  Let  us  suppose,  for  example,  that  the 
planet  Neptune  is  situated  near  the  outside  limits  of 
that  globe.  The  diameter  of  that  planet's  orbit  is 
5.49^976.000  miles,  and  its  long  journey  around  the 
sun  would  represent  a  distance  of  about  17,260,496,000 
miles.  It  is  quite  possible,  however,  that  the  orbit  of 
Neptune  does  not  represent  the  extreme  limits  of  the 
universe,  and  that  we  must  add  many  millions  of 
miles  to  the  foregoing  figures,  in  order  to  cover 
the  unknown  space  beyond  the  point  to  which  the 
great  modern  telescopes  can  penetrate.  But  the 
distance  to  which  astronomical  research  already  ex- 
tends is  enormously  great.  The  annual  journey  of  our 
earth  around  the  sun  represents  a  distance  of  about 
574,703,000  miles.  During  that  long  journey  a  large 
part  of  the  universe  is  brought  wi  '  -n  the  reach  of 
accurate  telescopic  observation ;  an .  we  now  know, 
despite  agnostic  speculation  to  the  contrary,  that  no 
evidence  of  the  existence  of  a  second  sun  has  been 
discovered,  and  that  the  one  sun  created  by  God  to 
rule  the  day  is  the  only  monarch  of  the  solar  system. 
"And  God,"  says  the  sublime  Biblical  narrative  of 
the  Creation,  "  made  two  great  lights :  the  greater  light 
to  rule  the  day,  and  the  lesser  light  to  rule  the  night : 
he  made  the  stars  also.  And  God  set  them  in  the 
firmament  of  the  heaven  to  give  light  upon  the  earth, 
and  to  rule  over  the  day  and  over  the  night,  and  to 
divide  the  light  from  the  darkness :  and  God  saw  that 
it  was  good.  And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were 
the  fourth  day."  These  verses  in  the  first  chapter  of 
Genesis  clearly  set  forth  the  great  fact  of  a  concurrent 
and  immediate  creation,  which  is  also  most  fully 
sustained  by  the  underlying  principles  of  the  law  of 
gravitation.  As  in  obedience  to  this  law  all  the 
heavenly  bodies  are  firmly  retained  in  their  orbits  by 
the  relative  attraction  of  one  body  to  another,  the 
harmony  and  accurate  working  of  the  whole  system 
must  have  been  provided  for  from  the  first  moment 
of  its  existence.    Hence  these  bodies  must  have  been 


II  '• 


i6     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

created  just  as  they  stand  to-day,  and,  perfect  in  all 
their  details  of  motion,  at  once  commenced  to  per- 
form their  everlasting  journeys  through  the  realms  of 
space.  We  must  accordingly  summarily  dismiss  the 
speculative  idea  that  the  planets  at  one  time  were 
great  liquid  globes  of  fire  and  flame,  and  that  even 
to-day  some  of  them  are  still  in  the  process  of  cool- 
ing down.  If  that  were  indeed  the  case,  our  earth, 
for  example,  would  be  nothing  but  an  undistinguish- 
able  mass  of  one  character,  such  as  all  great  fires 
leave  behind  them,  those  of  volcanoes,  for  example, 
and  the  strata  of  coal,  iron,  gold,  silver,  stone,  and  so 
forth,  that  now  distinguish  it,  could  not  possibly  be 
in  existence.  Instead  the  residuum  would  be  a  molten 
formation,  composed  of  a  single  element  alone.  This 
great  physical  fact  must  be  apparent  to  every  person 
possessed  of  ordinary  common-sense ;  but  the  great 
difficulty  with  scientists  is  to-day,  and  always  has  been, 
that  in  the  anxiety  at  times  to  support  some  special 
fad  of  their  own  they  are  very  apt  to  ignore  the  laws 
of  practical  experience,  and  of  common-sense  as 
well. 

Nothing  in  nature  is  more  sublime  than  the  spec- 
tacle of  the  sun,  with  a  diameter  of  850,900  miles 
and  a  circumference  of  2,680,543  miles,  revolving  on 
its  axis,  and  journeying  in  its  own  orbit,  in  the 
centre  of  the  vast  universe,  with  all  the  great  pri- 
mary planets  and  their  satellites,  and  numerous  lesser 
planets,  moving  continually  and  in  the  same  direction 
around  it  in  stately  procession.  Forming  a  perft~t 
sphere,  the  sun's  forces  of  attraction  in  every  direc- 
tion are  alike  of  equal  power ;  and  it  stands  to-day, 
as  at  the  beginning  of  things,  the  sole  ruling  body 
of  the  planetary  system,  the  initial  point  of  gravi- 
tation, and  the  source  of  light  and  heat  to  our  earth. 
And  so  admirably  does  it  fulfil  its  allotted  duties 
that  all  the  planets  perform  their  vast  journeys 
around  it  precisely  in  the  appointed  time,  without 
the  smallest  variation  or   change  therefrom.      No 


THE  CREATION  AND  ASTRONOMY.    17 

chronometer  ever  made  by  the  hands  of  man  could 
keep  tmie  as  accurately  as  the  planetary  system.     It 
has  no  weights  to  be  wound   up  at  intervals;  no 
repairs  are  ever  needed.     It  complies  forever,  as 
designed   by  the  wonderful  wisdom  of  its   Creator, 
with  Its  own  organic  law  of  perpetual  motion,  and  is 
never  either  behind  or  before  its  appointed  period  of 
arrival  at  any  of  its  way  stations.     Nothing  is  more 
opposed  to  every  law  of  reason  than  the  sceptical 
idea,  embodied  in  the  theory  of  evolution,  that  all 
this  amazing  accuracy  of  keeping  time,  and   per- 
fection of  motion,  are  the  productions  of  mere  chance 
or  physical   natural  accident.      A  position  of  this 
description    plainly  proves    that    the    agnostic  will 
betake  himself  to  any  dernier  ressort,  however  un- 
tenable in  itself,  sooner  than  admit  that  a  great  First 
Cause  created  the  universe.     How  appropriate  is  the 
language  of  the  sweet  Psalmist  of  Israel  when  he  tells 
us:    "The    heavens    declare    the    glory    of    God; 
and  the  firmament  shc.vcth  his  handy  work.     Day 
unto  day  uttereth    speech,  and    night    unto    night 
showeth  knowledge.     In  them  hath  he  set  a  taber- 
nacle for  the  sun.     His  going  forth  is  from  the  end 
of  the  heaven,  and  his  circuit  unto  the  ends  of  it; 
and  there  is  nothing  hid  from  the  heat  thereof." 
(Psalm  xix.) 

The  researches  of  Newton,  Lagrange,  and  Laplace 
all  clearly  illustrate  the  great  truth  that  the  heavenly 
bodies  have  no  elements  of  either  decay  or  destruc- 
tion within  themselves,  and  that  they  have  been 
designed  from  the  beginning  of  tilings  to  endure 
forever  or  during  the  pleasure  of  their  Creator.  But 
the  passage  that  we  have  quoted  from  Genesis  em- 
bodies another  great  fact,  which  is  also  supported 
by  physical  astronomy;  namely,  that  God  made  the 
two  great  lights  which  respectively  rule  the  day  and 
night  to  give  light  especially  upon  the  earth,  or,  in 
other  words,  for  the  benefit  of  the  earth.  The  science 
of  astronomy  teaches  us  that  no  planet  is  so  favour- 


i 


i  .ill 


-*- 


i8     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

ably  situated  as  the  earth,  as  regards  its  distance 
from  the  sun,  the  distribution  of  light  and  heat,  and 
the  temperate  zone  in  which  its  orbit  is  placed. 
While  the  planets  Mercury  and  Venus  are  scorched 
with  the  fiery  rays  of  a  nearer  sun,  those  planets 
which  are  situated  at  a  remoter  distance  from  the 
centre  of  the  solar  system  must  be  destitute  of  the 
genial  warmth  so  necessary  to  sustain  animal  and 
vegetable  life.  Some  astronomers  suppose  that  the 
planet  Mars  may  posse3s  conditions  favourable  to 
animal  life.  But  its  distance  from  the  sun  being  much 
greater  than  that  of  the  earth,  the  most  intense  cold 
must  necessarily  prevail  there ;  and  telescopic  obser- 
vations prove  that  vast  regions  of  ice  and  snow  exist 
far  within  both  its  poles.  All  these  facts  point  to 
one  plain  conclusion,  namely,  that  animal  life  exists 
on  no  other  planet  but  our  own,  and  that  God  in  his 
inscrutable  wisdom  and  for  his  own  gracious  purposes 
has  created  man  in  his  own  image,  and  made  him 
the  especial  subject  of  his  providence  from  that  day 
to  this.  When  we  come  to  think  out  this  whole 
stupenrfous  matter  calmly  and  fully,  no  other  logical 
conclusion  can  present  itself  to  the  human  mind. 

When  any  intelligent  person  capable  of  serious 
thought  contemplates  the  blue  empyrean  of  a  cloud- 
less night  sky,  and  the  wonders  that  it  reveals,  he 
must  realise  that  the  glorious  spectacle  of  the  host 
of  heaven  which  meets  his  view  could  never  have  been 
the  result  of  accident  or  evolution,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, is  the  product  of  a  creative  power,  of  an  om- 
niscience so  infinite  in  its  wisdom  as  to  be  wholly 
beyond  the  finite  comprehension  of  mankind.  And 
when  one  recollects  that  all  the  celestial  wonders  that 
present  themselves  to  the  eye,  on  a  fine  starlit  night, 
form  only  a  part  of  the  universe  so  exquisitely  accu- 
rate and  harmonious  in  every  detail,  so  mathematically 
exact  in  all  its  departments,  the  conviction  must 
arise  that  the  hand  of  a  great  Creator  everywhere 
appears,  and  that  the  whole  universe  is  the  result  of 


THE   CREATION  AND  ASTRONOMY.     19 

a  single  plan,  so  well  designed  and  perfect  in  all  its 
features  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  future  friction 
or  derangement  of  any  kind.  And  another  conclu- 
sion also  must  forcibly  present  itself  to  his  mind,  and 
that  IS  that  if  God  were  competent  to  create  the  uni- 
verse at  all,  he  was  just  as  competent  to  create  it  in 
SIX  days,  by  the  mere  act  of  his  own  sovereign  will 
and  for  his  own  pleasure,  as  in  six  million  days.  The 
existence  of  the  law  of  gravity  of  'tself  teaches  us 
that  the  sun  and  all  the  planetary  systems  must  have 
sprung  into  existence  simultaneously  at  the  same 
instant  of  time,  and  surrounded  by  all  the  conditions 
that  now  environ  them.  But  we  should  always  bear 
in  mind  that  the  sovereign  Creator,  who  called  the 
universe  into  existence,  could  also  decree  such  future 
changes  therein  as  he  may  at  any  time  deem  advis- 
able. God  has  graciously  promised  that  while  the 
earth  remaineth  (but  no  longer)  seedtime  and  harvest, 
and  cold  and  heat,  and  summer  and  winter,  and  day 
and  night,  shall  never  cease. 

Having  shown  from  a  Biblical  standpoint  what 
astronomical  science  teaches  us  as  regards  the 
Beginning  of  Things,  and  that  in  no  way  does  it  con- 
flict with  the  Mosaic  account  of  the  Creation,  but  on 
the  contrary  supports  and  even  confirms  that  account. 
It  now  remains  for  us  to  review  the  true  value  of 
agnostic  speculation  in  the  same  direction.  At  the 
same  time  we  would  remind  the  reader,  that  when 
the  astronomer  deserts  the  region  of  fact  and  of 
sound  inductive  reason,  and  puts  forward  theories 
of  his  own  which  are  unsupported  by  legitimate  proof 
of  any  kind,  he  resorts  to  mere  speculation,  which 
cannot  commend  itself,  independently  altogether  of 
any  religious  feeling  we  may  possess,  to  either  our 
understanding  or  common-sense.  There  are  no 
ancient  agnostic  ideas  in  existence  touching  what 
astronomy  teaches  us.  Those  ideas  are  the  product 
of  modern  times,  and  owe  their  chief  origin  to  Buffon, 
the  French  philosopher  and  naturalist,  who  flourished 


,rt 


20     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


M 


through  the  middle  portion  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  died  at  Paris  in  1788.  BufTon,  like  so  many  of 
his  philosophical  successors,  including  the  Herschels, 
father  and  son,  declined  to  accept  the  Mosaic  narra- 
tive of  the  Creation,  and  in  its  place  put  forward  the 
theory  that  the  actual  condition  of  the  earth  and  of 
the  whole  universe  is  the  result  of  evolution,  or  a 
succession  of  changes  of  which  we  can  find  the 
evidence  to-day.  His  theories,  however,  as  to  the 
origin  of  the  planetary  system,  embodying  as  they 
did  comets  striking  off  portions  of  the  sun,  which 
became  the  nucleus  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  some 
cooling  more  rapidly  than  others,  can  only  be  re- 
garded as  the  merest  flights  of  fancy,  and  having  no 
proof  whatever  be|iind  them.  The  celebrated  German 
philosopher  Kant,  one  of  the  most  profound  thinkers 
of  his  age,  who  died  in  1804,  was  the  contemporary 
of  BufTon,  but  does  not  appear  to  have  been  much 
acquainted  with  his  writings.  He  was  at  home,  how- 
ever, in  the  works  of  Voltaire,  Rousseau,  and  Hume, 
and,  like  them,  refused  to  believe  in  anything  which 
he  deemed  contrary  to  his  reason.  In  his  "  General 
History  and  Theory  of  the  Heavens,"  he  proceeded, 
from  Newton's  conception  of  the  solar  system,  as  his 
basis  of  thought,  to  the  consideration  of  the  entire 
sidereal  system,  points  out  how  the  whole  may  be 
mechanically  regarded,  and  throws  out  the  important 
speculation  as  to  the  origin  of  the  planetary  world 
from  what  is  now  known  as  the  nebular  hypothesis. 
Refusing  his  assent  to  the  miraculous  as  the  source  of 
the  Beginning  of  Things,  he  was  forced  to  seek  for 
some  substitute  in  speculative  theories  and  fanciful 
natural  causes,  which  had  not,  however,  a  single  fact  to 
sustain  them.  His  religious  philosophy  was  necessarily 
entirely  out  of  harmony  with  historical  Christianity, 
tended  towards  moral  rationalism,  and  finally  brought 
him  into  unpleasant  collision  with  the  Prussian  gov- 
ernment, which,  in  addition  to  Kant's  heterodoxy,  had 
the  fear  of  the  French  Revolution  before  its  eyes. 


Il 


THE  CREATION  AND  ASTRONOMY.    21 

The  great  French  astronomer  Laplace  strongly 
leaned  to  agnosticism,  and  although  confronted, 
during  his  minute  investigations  and  profound 
mathematical  calculations,  with  numerous  facts  and 
inductive  proofs  of  a  miraculous  and  immediate 
creation  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  wilfully  shut  his  eyes 
to  all  of  them,  and  fell  back  upon  the  nebular  hy- 
pothesis, propounded  so  clearly  by  Kant,  which  he 
furbished  up  anew,  and  sought  to  strengthen  by  vari- 
ous ingenious  theories  of  his  own.  His  views  exerted 
great  influence  on  the  school  of  agnostic  scientific 
thought  which  arose  in  England  towards  the  middle 
of  the  past  century,  and  was  so  ably  promoted  by 
Huxley,  Darwin,  Tyndall,  and  many  other  writers  of 
less  note. 

The  great  majority  of  the  scientific  articles  in  the 
last  edition  of  the  "  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  "  have 
been  contributed  by  writers  who  belonged  to  the 
sceptical  school  of  thought,  believed  accordingly  in 
the  mechanical  construction  of  the  heavenly  bodies, 
and  held  that  they  owed  their  origin  to  some  process 
of  evolution.  These  writers,  however,  had  one  re- 
deeming feature  about  them.  They  were  eminently 
fair  in  dealing  with  the  various  subjects  they  wrote 
about,  and  never  hesitated  to  admit,  when  they  were 
bound  in  honesty  to  do  so,  that  their  opinions  or 
speculative  theories  were  not  sustained  by  facts  or 
sound  inductive  reason.  The  Christian  reader,  ac- 
cordingly, need  have  no  hesitation  in  at  once  accord- 
ing them  their  true  position.  They  declined  to 
believe  in  a  great  First  Cause  and  the  miraculous 
creation  of  the  universe,  and  instead  groped,  in 
almost  total  darkness,  to  seek  out  the  Beginning  of 
Things  in  the  region  of  mere  accident  or  fanciful 
evolution.  The  writer  on  the  nebular  theory,  in 
Volume  XVII.  page  3 10,  illustrates  very  forcibly  this 
condition  of  matters.  He  begins  his  article  by  stat- 
ing that  "the  nebular  theory  is  a  famous  hy- 
pothesis, which  has  been  advanced  with  the  view  of 


i 


22     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

accounting  for  the  origin  of  the  solar  system.    It  is 
emphatically  a  speculation ;  it  cannot  be  demonstrated 
by  observation  or  established  by  mathematical  calcu- 
lation.   Yet  the  boldness  and  the  splendour  of  the 
nebular  theory  have  always  given  it  a  dignity  not 
usually  attached  to  a  doctrine  which  has  so  little  direct 
evidence  m  its  favour.  ...  AH  we  could  expect  to 
find  would  be  features  in  that  system  whose  existence 
the  theory  would  account  for.  ...  It  is  hard  to  see 
what  other  kind  of  evidence  would  be  attainable.  .  .  . 
Hence,  as  all  attainable  evidence  is,  on  the  whole,  in 
favour  of  the  nebular  theory,  (though  here  and  there 
there  are  exceptional  phenomena),  astronomers  have 
generally   regarded    the    theory    with    considerable 
approval.      After  some  preliminary  observations  the 
writer  then  proceeds  to  say :  "  The  nebular  theory 
here  steps  in,  and'  offers  an  explanation  of  this  most 
remarkable    uniformity    in    the    planetary    system. 
Laplace  supposed  that  our  sun  had  once  a  stupen- 
dous nebulous  atmosphere,  which  extended  so  far  out 
as  to  fill  all  the  space  at  present  occupied  by  the 
planets.    This  gigantic  nebulous  mass,  of  which  the 
sun  was  only  the  central  and  somewhat  more  con- 
densed portion,  is  supposed  to  have  a  movement  of 
rotation  on  its  axis.    There  is  no  difficulty  in  con- 
ceiving how  a  nebula  quite  independently  of  any  in- 
ternal motion  of  its  parts  shall  also  have  as  a  whole  a 
movenient  of  rotation  ...  no  matter  by  what  causes 
the  nebula  may  have  originated.     As  this  vast  mass 
cooled.  It  must,  by  the  laws  of  heat,  have  contracted 
towards  the  centre,  and  thus  we  would  have  the  outer 
part  left  as    a   ring."     In   this   way,   according    to 
Laplace,  a  number  of  rings  would  be  formed  which 
as  they  cooled  would  develop  into  planets  large  and 
small.     Nebula  in  astronomy,  we  may  state,  is  a  faint 
misty  appearance  in  the  heavens,  produced  either  by 
a  group  of  stars  too  distant  to  be  seen  singly  or  by 
diffused  gaseous  matter.     Having  disposed  of  the 
planetary  system,  Laplace  proceeds  to  deal  especially 


THE  CREATION  AND  ASTRONOMY.    33 

tt^JJ u'7*  " ^*  '*"  ^  »'»°«'»'"  »»«  »*«*««.  "that 
dimfn^^h..  V^''""^  contracting  so  that  its  diameter 
diminishes  four  miles  every  century.  This  is  of 
wXth/J-  '"?P'«5iable  distance    when  compared 

«f  iiS,  tT»?"°^*^c'  '""•  ^'^'^^^  »  "«rlya  million 
of  miles,  but  the  significance  for  our  present  purpose 

taS  olaS"  'aIu'  *'*i*^"  ^°"*^^<=»'°"  «^f^^y' 
taking  place     A  thousand  years  ago  the  sun  must 

iTft'^  *  ^'*'"'*"  40  miles  greatef  than  at  present 

11^  ir/""^  ^*\u  "^.^  **•"*  ^•*'"«t"  »"»»»  have  been 
400  miles  more  than  it  is  now,  and  so  on We 

,Th  =r"'r  f  u™*^  .^^^"  the  sun  was  swollen  to 
SrH^H  K*^*^*  ^'L^*  '\^^^^^  "P  the  entire  space 
girdled  by  the  orbit  of  Mercury.  Earlier  still  the 
sun  must  have  reached  to  the  earth.  Earl  e  stiU 
the  sun  must  have  reached  to  where  the  planet 
Neptune  now  revolves  on  the  confines  of  our  system 
But  the  mass  of  the  sun  could  not  undergo  an  ex^ 

S^3  fS  P'"°^'g'°"'  ^thout  being  vastly  more 
rarefied  than  at  present,  and  hence  we  are  led  by 
I.  ITI^  of  reasoning  to  the  conception  of  the  prime- 
In  on.  /v^*"  ""^'"'^  °"'"  ^y^tem  has  originated"' 
Hersche?  th^  T''  '"^'"^'•^^^•e  P^P^rs  Sir  William 
Herschel,  the  German   astronomer  of  George  III . 

Tf  i"„f,^*'**  ^T'  ""^°"^^  '^"^  speculative  theorie 
oftK«H     f".**    ^*''*'    plausibility    to    the    view 

But  tL^wen lr"-'""i**'°"  °^  "^*^"^*  '"to  stars. 
But  the  well-determined  astronomical  fact,  that  the 

ransmutation  of  a  nebula  into  a  star  has  never  been 
mSdr„''J'*^'  to  Herschel's  theory.  The  mathe" 
sats  ••  A? X°'"'''  ^"^9^^'^  d^ciple  of  Laplace, 
Itl      K  ,     *?^  P^^^^t  time  we  can  only  say  that 

he  nebular  hypothesis  is  indicated  by  the  genera 

orovrd'Uh*'^-  ''"^°^  "^*"'-^'  '^''  it'i.as  nof  been 
Smos?.  „.  •"*=°"^'«tent  with  any  fact;  that  it  is 
almost  a  necessary  consequence  of  the  only  theory 

se^rvrtismorfH""  ?T""*  '■°'-  **=  °"g'"  ^"d  ^oZ 
servatismofthe  sun's  heat  .  .  .  Should  any  one  be 
sceptical  as  to  the  sufficiency  of  these  laws  to^a?count 


fl 


24     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

for  the  present  state  of  things,  science  can  furnish 
no  evidence  strong  enough  to  overthrow  his  doubts, 
until  the  sun  shall  be  found  growing  smaller  by  actual 
measurement,  or  the  nebulae  be  actually  seen  to  con- 
dense into  stars  and  systems."  It  is  scarcely  neces- 
sary for  us  to  say,  that  neither  of  these  conditions,  or 
contentions,  has  ever  been  established.  There  is  no 
proof  that  the  sun  has  diminished  or  is  diminishing 
in  size,  nor  that  nebulae  have  ever  condensed  into 
stars  and  systems.  The  statements  accordingly  of 
Laplace,  amd  of  the  two  Herschels  and  their  dis- 
ciples in  that  direction,  lack  every  essential  element 
of  proof,  and  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  possess- 
ing no  value  whatever.  They  are  merely  the  product 
of  idle  speculative  opinion,  seeking  to  throw  discredit 
in  some  way  on  the  creation  of  the  universe  by  a 
great  First  Cause. 

While  engaged  in  reading  up  authorities  for  this 
chapter  on  astronomy,  we  chanced  to  light  on  a  work 
of  nearly  four  hundred  pages  called  "In  Starry 
Readms,"  written  for  popular  use  by  Sir  Robert  S. 
Ball,  F.  R.  S.,  professor  of  aistronomy  and  geometry 
in  the  English  University  of  Cambridge.  After 
glancing  at  the  title-page  of  this  book,  we  were  seized 
with  the  idea  that  it  must  contain  a  good  deal  of 
valuable  information  for  general  use,  and  free  from 
professional  scientific  technicalities.  We  were  soon, 
however,  undeceived  on  this  point,  and  came  to  the 
conclusion,  after  reading  the  book,  that  adl  the  really 
useful  information  it  contained  might  be  easily  com- 
pressed into  one  hundred  pages.  There  is  very  little 
originality  about  it,  and  it  is  mainly  a  re-hash  of 
other  authors'  opinions.  But  independently  of  all 
this  there  is  much  in  the  book  that  is  positively 
harmful  to  the  general  reader.  Its  author  is  a  great 
admirer  of  Darwin's  numerous  speculative  theories, 
so  many  of  which  have  already  been  dissipated  by 
the  progress  of  time  and  the  sober  exercise  of  common- 
sense,  and  gives  as  his  own  a  new  version  of  the  nebu- 


THE  CRcATION  AND  ASTRONOMY.     25 

lar  theory  of  Laplace  which  reminds  one  of  a  story 
in  the  "Arabian  Nights'  Entertainment"  "Astron- 
omers," he  says,  "  were  the  first  evolutionists :  they 
had  sketched  out  a  majestic  system  of  evolution  for  the 
whole  solar  system,  and  now  they  are  rejoiced  to  find 
that  the  great  doctrine  of  evolution  has  received  an 
extension  to  the  whole  domain  of  organic  life  by  the 
splendid  genius  of  Darwin."  "As  the  nebula,"  he  says, 
"  began  to  radiate  heat,  so  it  must  have  begun  to  con- 
tract, and  as  it  began  to  contract  it  beg  n  to  rotate 
more  rapidly.  .  .  .  But  as  the  nebula  spins  more  and 
more  rapidly,  the  cohesion  of  its  parts  is  lessened  by 
centrifugal  force.  The  moment  at  length  arrives 
when  the  centrifugal  force  detaches  a  fragment  of  the 
nebula.  The  process  of  condensation  still  continues, 
both  in  the  fragment  and  in  the  central  mass:  the 
fragment  changes  from  the  gaseous  state  to  the  liquid, 
perhaps  even  from  the  liquid  to  the  solid,  and  thus 
becomes  a  planet;  still  the  central  mass  condenses, 
and  spins  more  and  more  rapidly,  until  a  rupture 
again  takes  place,  and  a  second  planet  is  produced. 
Again,  and  still  again,  the  same  process  is  repeated, 
until  at  length  we  recognize  the  central  mass  as  our 
great  and  glorious  sun,  diminished  by  incessant  con- 
traction, though  still  vast  and  brilliantly  hot.  One  of 
the  lesser  fragments  which  he  cast  off  has  consoli- 
dated into  our  earth,  while  other  fragments,  greater 
and  smaller,  have  formed  the  rest  of  the  host  of  plan- 
ets." We  may  add  that  the  atomic  theory  is  also  a 
favourite  one  with  the  author  of  "  In  Starry  Realms," 
in  which,  although  destined  for  popular  use  and  es- 
pecially for  young  people,  he  never  hesitates  to  air 
his  sceptical  views  on  every  possible  occasion.  We 
quote  him  as  a  good  recent  example  of  how  com- 
pletely the  speculative  follies  of  science  have  taken 
possession  of  men  of  the  highest  educational  attain- 
ments, and  how  credulously  they  will  cling  to  every 
little  twig  of  excuse  for  their  unbelief  rather  than  ac- 
cept the  sublime  and  true  account  of  the  Creation 


r 


ij 


26     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

that  we  find  in  our  Bibles.  The  ancient  Greek  theory 
which  held  that  atoms,  or  molecules  as  Spencer  would 
say,  stands  in  hi^  favour  with  the  author  of  "  In 
Surry  Realms."  But,  like  a  great  many  other  merely 
speculative  theories,  that  has  also  gone  down  among 
the  dead  issues,  owing  to  the  progress  of  science  and 
new  discovery.  Professor  Rutherford,  of  McGill  Uni- 
versity, Montreal,  has  recently  discovered,  from  accu- 
rate chemical  experiment,  that  atoms  or  molecules 
have  no  everlasting  existence,  but  are  in  a  process 
of  decay,  showing  plainly  that  they  must  therefore 
have  had  a  beginning. 

As  to  Sir  Robert  Ball's  droll  statement  about  the 
origin  of  our  planetary  system,  we  would  call  the  at- 
tention of  the  reader  to  what  we  have  already  said  on 
that  topic  in  a  preceding  page  of  this  chapter.  We 
may  add,  in  further  explanation,  that  from  a  mathe- 
matical standpoint  each  planet  may  be  regarded  in 
the  light  of  an  enormous  clock,  which  has  kept 
time  to  a  second  from  the  first  moment  of  construc- 
tion down  to  the  present  day.  In  order  to  do  this  its 
complex  works  must  have  been  originally  constructed 
in  the  most  accurate  manner,  and  on  a  plan  which 
provided  for  an  exquisitely  perfect  harmony  of  mo- 
tion. The  weight  of  its  own  body  forms  the  pendu- 
lum of  the  planetary  clock.  Reduce  that  weight  and 
we  increase  its  speed.  Add  to  that  weight  and  we  di- 
minish its  speed.  In  either  case  its  true  time  would 
be  wholly  deranged,  and  its  proper  place  in  its  orbit 
could  no  longer  be  preserved.  Now,  fluid  bodies  are 
much  lighter  than  solid  bodies  of  the  same  bulk,  and, 
accordingly,  if  the  planets  were  once  in  a  molten  con- 
dition, as  Professor  Ball  and  other  agnostic  astrono- 
mers assert,  their  pace  around  the  sun  would  be*  so 
vastly  increased  that  no  correct  time,  as  at  present, 
could  be  any  longer  kept,  while  the  gravity  of  the 
whole  planetary  system  must  be  so  seriously  disturbed 
that  a  universal  crash  would  be  the  inevitable  result 
Nor  have  these  astronomers  ever  worked  out  the 


*,■  i 


THE  CREATION  AND  ASTRONOMY.    27 

problem  of  what  would  become  of  the  various  plane- 
tary oceans,  (for  it  is  only  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
other  planets  have  oceans  just  like  this  earth  of  ours), 
in  the  event  of  a  planetary  conflagration.  They  can 
be  held  in  their  places  only  by  solid  obstructions 
along  their  shores,  and  if  these  obstructions  were  in  a 
fluid  state  they  would  form  no  barrier  whatever  to 
any  erratic  pranks  the  oceans  might  see  fit  to  indulge 
in  when  they  found  they  were  at  liberty  to  amu? 
themselves  in  any  way  they  pleased.  Our  own  oce  uh 
cover  about  three-fourths  of  the  surface  of  the  globo, 
and  have  an  average  depth  of  about  three  miles.  If 
their  enormous  body  of  water  once  got  loose,  it  c  uld 
never  be  got  back  into  its  place  again,  our  planet 
would  be  a  waterless  world,  and  there  would  be  Hvt 
waves  for  "  Britannia,  the  pride  of  the  ocean,  to  rule," 
nor  for  our  American  cousins  to  sail  the  magnifi- 
cent fleet  in,  which  they  are  now  building  up  at  such 
vast  expense.  Such  is  the  extremely  ridiculous  al- 
though logical  working  out  of  the  silly  and  childish 
theories  propounded  by  Sir  Robert  Ball  for  the  edi- 
fication of  young  people,  and  which  form  such  an 
outrage  on  physical  laws  and  common-sense.  There 
are  scores  of  theories  put  forward  by  other  specialists 
in  science  which  have  not  a  whit  better  foundation. 


CHAPTER  II. 


1:1 


'1  f 


THE  CREATION  CONSIDERED    FROM    A    GEOLOGICAL 
POINT  OK  VIEW. 

Unijke  astronomy,  the  science  of  geology  was  un- 
known to  the  ancient  nations  of  the  world,  and  even 
in  modern  times  attracted  little  or  no  attention  until 
the  closing  years  of  the  eighteenth  century.     In  the 
active  development  of  geological  investigation  Eng- 
land was  far  in  advance  of  all  other  countries,  both 
m  the  Old   World   and   the   New.     The  Geological 
Society  of  London  was  founded  in  1807,  and  incor- 
porated by  royal  charter  in  1826.     During  the  first 
half  of  the  century  several  other  geological  societies 
were  formed  in  various  cities  of  the  British  Islands. 
J- ranee  was  the  first  country  of  continental  Europe 
to  follow  the  example  of  England,  and  in  1830  a  geo- 
logical society  was  formed  at  Paris,  and  recognised 
by  the  French  government  two  years  afterwards.     In 
1848  geological  societies  were  founded  in  Germany 
and  Austria.    In  1876  a  few  geological  societies  arose 
m  the  United  States.     But  to-day  the  British  Islands, 
first  in  the  geological  field,  still  continue  to  hold  the 
foremost  p'^ce  in  that  field.      While   the    kindred 
science  of  mineralogy  had   made  considerable   pro- 
gress during  the  eighteenth  century,  geology,  in  any 
proper  sense  of  the  term,  had  no  existence  whatever 
until  1785.     In  that  year  James  Hutton,  an  eminent 
Scotchman,  laid  before  the  Royal  Society  of  Edin- 
burgh  a  remarkable  paper  entitled  "Theory  of  the 
Earth."     This  theory  (together  with  another  theory 
on   rain)  was  shortly   afterwards  published  in  book 
form,  and   at  once  commanded  wide  attention  from 


THE  CREATION  AND  GEOLOGY.       29 

scientific  scholars.  Hutton  subsequently  published 
several  other  works  on  various  branches  of  natural 
philosophy,  and  until  his  death  in  179;  performed  a 
large  amount  of  literary  labour  in  the  interests  of 
science.  Contemporary  with  Hutton  was  Deluc,  a 
native  of  Geneva,  who  attained  to  considerable  emi- 
nence in  Germany  and  France,  and  in  1773  removed 
to   England,  where  he  was  made  a  member  of  the 

f^A  ^''^''^y'  ^?^  received  the  appointment  of 
reader  to  Queen  Charlotte,  the  consort  of  George  HI. 
According  to  Cuvier.  he  ranked  among  the  first  geolo- 
gists of  his  age.  He  explained  the  six  days  of  the 
Creation  as  figuratively  denoting  an  equal  number  of 
epochs,  which  preceded  the  final  completion  of  the 
earth  as  it  now  exists,- a  theory  which  was  after- 
wards endorsed  by  several  later  geologists  of  emi- 
nence. Dr.  Buckland,  Dean  of  Westminster,  did  much 
for  the  progress  of  geological  science  during  the  first 
decades  of  the  past  century.     In  1823  he  published  a 

Tn^'Piir   r?-*''^°/'';*T^"  ^^'^  ^'■f^«"'*=  l<emainsattest- 
mg  the  Action  of  a  Universal  Deluge,"  and  his  Bridge- 
water  Treatise  of  .836,  on  "  The  Power,  Wisdom,  and 
Ooodness  of  God   as   manifested   in  the  Creation," 
passed  through  various  editions.     But  the  man  who 
did  the  largest  part  of  the  practical  work  in  develop- 
mg  English  geological  science  in  the  first  half  of  the 
past  century  was  De  La  Beche.    Designed  for  the  mili- 
tary profession  by  his  father,  the  peace  of  1815.  which 
led  to  large  reductions  in  the  strength  of  the  British 
army,  caused  him  to  give  up  the  idea  of  a  soldier's  life 
and  he  devoted  himself  instead  to  the  pursuit  of  math- 
ematics and   geology.     He  eventually  succeeded  in 
inducing  the  government  to  make  a  geological  survey 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.     He  died  in  1855.  but 
ived   sufficiently  long  to  see  the  branch  of  human 
knowledge  he  loved  so  well,  elevated  to  the  plane  of 
'"^"*:*'^^^^^i<=nce  by  the  untiring  industry  and  genius 
ot   bir  Charles  Lycll.  the  contemporary  of  another 
eminent  Scotch  geologist,  Hugh  Miller. 


I 


•if  ' 


f   : 


11    I 


30     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

Geological  science  as  it  stands  to-day  may  be  said 
to  only  represent  the  growth  of  a  single  century.     It 
professes  among  many  other  things  to  investigate  the 
history  of  the  earth,  and  in  various  ways  to  trace  its 
progress  from  the  earliest  Beginning  of  Things  down 
to  the  present  day.    So  long  as  it  confines  itself  to  its 
pracucal  features  it  travels  a  clear  and  well-defined 
path,  and  produces  most  beneficial  results  to  mankind ; 
but  the  moment  it  essays  to  develop  its  speculative 
side  we  are  met  with  diflliculty  and  doubt  in  every 
direction,  and  get  lost  in  mental  quagmires  from 
which  there  is  no  escape.    The  acutest  intellects  are 
utterly  unable  to  unravel  the  difficulties  of  the  situa- 
tion, and  one  theory  is  propounded  only  to  be  de- 
stroyed by  another  of  a  newer  and  entirely  conflicting 
character.    During  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury the  literary  wars  arising  from  adverse  opinions  on 
questions  of  speculative  geology  were  numerous,  and 
at  times  waged  with  no  small  bitterness.    Hutton's 
theory,  that  continents  wear  away  to  be  replaced  by 
volcanic  upheaval,  had  few  supporters  at  the  beginning 
of  the  century ;   even  the  lucid  "  Illustrations  of  the 
Huttonian Theory,"  which  Playfair,  the  pupil  and  friend 
of  the  eminent  Scotchman,  gave  to  the  world,  did  not 
at  once  prove  convincing.     Scientific  circles  had  be- 
come enamoured  of  the  rival  theory  of  Hutton's  famous 
contemporary,  Werner,  of  Saxony,  —  the  theory  which 
taught  that  in  the  Beginning  of  Things  all  the  solid 
parts  of  the  earth's  existing  crust  were  held  in  solu- 
tion by  the  heated  waters  of  an  universal  sea.    Werner 
maintained  that  all  rocks  of  every  description  had  been 
formed  by  precipitation  from  this  sea,  as  its  waters 
became  cooler ;  that  even  rock  veins  originated  in  this 
way,  and  that  mountains  are  gigantic  crystals,  not  up- 
heaved masses.     The  followers  of  Werner  came  to  be 
known  as  Neptunists,  those  of  Hutton  as  Plutonists. 
For  the  first  quarter  of  the  past  century  the  intemper- 
ate controversies  between  these  rival  schools  formed 
the  principal  portion  of  its  geological  history.    The 


THE  CREATION  AND  GEOLOGY.       31 

chief  points  of  the  dispute  settled  about  the  unstratified 
granite  and  other  rocks,  which  the  Plutonists  claimed 
to  be  of  igneous  origin.  This  contention  was  sup- 
ported by  the  theory  of  the  nebular  hypothesis  of  Sir 
William  Herschel  and  Laplac;,  then  becoming  popu- 
lar, which  supposed  the  earth,  like  the  rest  of  the 
f>lanets,  to  be  a  cooling  globe.  The  Plutonists  also 
aid  great  stress  on  the  recently  ascertained  fact, 
discovered  in  coal  and  other  deep  mines,  that  the 
temperature  of  the  earth  increases  in  the  ratio  of  an 
approach  towards  its  centre,  and  further  urged  that 
the  phenomena  of  volcanic  action  sustained  their 
position.  Meanwhile  the  Geological  Society  of  Lon- 
don was  busily  engaged  in  hunting  up  facts  in  order, 
if  possible,  to  put  an  end  to  the  heated  contest.  The 
evidence  it  collected  led  to  the  publication,  in  1823, 
by  its  secretary,  Poulett  Scrope,  of  a  work  on  volca- 
noes, in  which  he  claimed  that  volcanic  mountains, 
including  some  of  the  highest  in  existence,  are  merely 
accumulated  masses  of  lava,  belched  forth  from  some 
crevice  in  the  earth's  crust.  But  the  Neptunists  still 
held  their  ground,  refused  to  be  convinced  by  his 
arguments,  and  continued  to  maintain  the  aqueous 
origin  of  volcanic  and  all  other  mountains.  The  Hut- 
tonian  theory,  having  apparently  more  solid  proof 
behind  it,  gradually  won  its  way  into  favour ;  and  the 
majority  of  the  geologists  of  that  day  accepted  the 
idea  that  the  centre  of  the  earth  is  a  molten  mass, 
held  in  place  by  the  solid  surrounding  crust.  Some, 
however,  among  whc;n  was  Lyell,  held  that  the 
molten  areas  exist  only  as  lakes  in  a  solid  crust,  and 
that  their  heat  was  due  to  electrical  or  chemical 
action.  But  the  theory  that  subterranean  heat  has 
been  instrumental  in  determining  the  formation  of 
the  primary  rocks  is  still  widely  accepted  by 
geologists.  We  may  state  that  the  hydrographic  sur- 
veys of  the  oceans,  in  recent  years,  flatly  contradict 
the  theory  that  the  centre  of  the  earth  is  a  molten 
mass.    The  Pacific  Ocean,  for  example,  is  at  certain 


32     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

places  nearly  six  miles  deep,  and  thus  over  five  miles 
nearer  to  the  centre  of  the  earth  than  the  deepest  mine 
in  existence.  But  instead  of  the  water  becoming 
warmer  in  proportion  to  its  depth,  it  actually  becomes 
much  colder.  At  the  bottom  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  the 
temperature  averages  about  35  degrees,  a  change  of 
30  degrees  from  its  surface. 

The  subsequent   disappearance   of   Werner  from 
the  field  of  speculative  geology  did  not  lead  by  any 
means  to  a  final  peace.     New  causes  of  difference 
sprang  up  in  several  other  directions.    The  Huttonian 
theory  supplied  a  plausible  explanation  of  the  up- 
heaval of  continents  and  mountains  by  volcanic  sud- 
denness, or  the  throes  of  a  gigantic  earthquake.    But, 
by-and-by,  Lyell  advanced  an  opposing  uniformitarian 
theory,  claiming  that  past  changes  in  the  earth's  sur- 
face have  been  precisely  like  the  changes  now  in 
progress.     The  making  of  continents  and  mountains, 
he  asserted,  is  going  on  as  rapidly  to-day  as  at  any 
former  period.     There  have   been   no  gigantic  up- 
heavals of  the   earth's  crust  at  any  time;    and  all 
changes,  as  a  whole,  in  the  levels  of  its  strata  have  been 
gradually  accomplished,   or   specially   produced   by 
occasional  earthquake  shocks,  and  that  the  highest 
mountains    present    no   exceptions    to   this   general 
principle  of  physical  law.     Sir  Roderick  Murchison, 
Director-General  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Great 
Britain,  and  the  greatest  field  geologist  of  his  day, 
still  held  to  the  Huttonian  theory,  while  two  prom- 
inent   continental    geologists,     De    Beaumont    and 
Von  Buch,  contended  that  the  mountains  had  sud- 
denly sprung  into  existence.     Humboldt,  considered 
as  the  foremost  geologist  of  his  age,  held,  up  to  his 
death,  in  1859,  that  the  erratic  boulders  found  high 
on  the  Jura  Mountains  had  been  hurled  like  cannon- 
balls  across  the    Geneva   valley  by  the  suddett   up- 
heaval of  a  neighbouring  mountain  range.     Lyell,  as 
a  matter  of  course,    refused   to   believe   that   these 
boulder  rocks  on  the  tops  of  mountains  were   left 


THE  CREATION  AND  GEOLOGY.       33 

there  by  the  Deluge,  and  so  cast  about  to  find  some 
other  solution  for  the  problem.    That  solution  was 
presently    supplied    by  a  chamois    hunter,    named 
Perraudm,  a  man  of  curious  and  enquiring  mind,  who 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  boulders  on  the  Jura 
Mountams   were    deposited    there    by  gigantic   ice- 
streams  called  glaciers.     His  theory  was  accepted  by 
the  emment  French  geologist,  Charpentier,  who  pres- 
ently brought  over  Louis  Agassiz  to  his  views.     The 
latter  conceived  the  additional  idea  that  the  sheet 
u   *A^'  ^**"^^  ^^^   supposed  to  have   once  covered 
the  Alps,  had  ultimately  spread  over  the  whole  of  the 
higher  latitudes  of  the  northern  hemisphere.     So  the 
theory  of  the  chamois  hunter  expanded,  in  the  fertile 
brain  of  Agassiz,  into  the  final  conception  of  an  uni- 
versal ice-age.    This  conception  was  published  to  the 
scientific  world  in   1857,  and  at  once  awoke  much 
hostile   comment.     Lyell   was  at  first  unwilling  to 
abandon  his  theory  of  the  movement  of  boulders  by 
icebergs,  but  eventually  accepted  the  new  idea.     On 
the  other  hand,  Von  Buch  treated  it  with  alternate 
ridicule  and  contempt,  and  Murchison  also  vigorously 
opposed  it.    But  the  new  idea  of  an  ice-age,  despite 
the  absence  of  all  proof  to  sustain  it,  held  its  ground 
firmly,  and  eventually  came  to  be  regarded,  by  credu- 
lous scientists  in  search  of  the  novel  and  sensational, 
as  an  article  of  faith  in  historical  speculative  geolog>'. 
There  are  solid  physical  facts  in  existence,  however, 
which  completely  rebut  this  glacial  theory  of  Agassiz 
and  his  geological  contemporaries.     In  the  first  place, 
It  IS  absolutely  necessary  for  the  formation  of  a  glacier 
—  or  ice  river,  as  it  may  be  called  — that  it  must 
begin  upon  a  mountain,  or  at  least  on  some  point  of 
considerable  elevation,  and  from  thence  continue  its 
journey  to  the  sea  or  plain  below.    Glaciers,  like  rivers, 
will  carry  things  downward  with  their  currents,  but 
never  up  stream,  a  physical  impossibility  which  the 
geological  savants  entirely  overiooked.     Then,  again, 
the  boulders  on  the  Jura  Mountains  stand  just  about 


34     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


■11 


illfr 


where  the  formation  of  the  glacier  woulU  commence 
and  where  its  momentum  must  be  weai<est,  Ada  there- 
fore not  in  a  condition  to  carry  any  heavy  body  with 
it.  But  another  and  still  stronger  fact  exists,  which 
completely  destroys  the  glacier-boulder  theory.  In 
every  direction  of  the  New  World  boulders,  large  and 
small,  are  met  with  on  land  perfectly  flat,  or  nearly 
so,  and  distant  in  some  cases  many  miles  from  any 
elevation  where  glaciers  could  possibly  be  formed. 
Boulders,  evidently  rounded  by  the  action  of  water 
currents,  are  also  frequentiy  met  with  deeply  im- 
bedded in  the  soil,  and  their  presence  there  has  never 
been  properly  accounted  for  by  geological  research. 
The  only  way  in  which  this  boulder  problem  can  at 
all  be  solved  lies  in  the  very  reasonable  supposition 
that  boulders  rested  on  the  bottom  of  the  ocean  once 
upon  a  time,  and  made  their  first  appearance  when 
the  dry  land  arose  above  the  waters,  either  after  the 
Creation  or  the  Deluge. 

Dr.  Croll,  the  eminent  mathematician  and  geologist, 
expanded  the  new  ice-age  idea  by  the  contention  that 
there  may  have  been  many  ice-ages ;  that  during  those 
periods  the  ice  may  have  possibly  been  a  mile  in 
depth  on  the  land,  on  which  it  then  pressed  down 
with  a  weight  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  tons  to 
the  square  foot.  According  to  other  geologists,  as 
the  ice  slowly  receded,  its  deposits  dammed  up  rivers, 
and  so  formed  the  lakes  which  everywhere  abound 
in  northern  districts.  The  great  glacial  sea  even 
scooped  out  the  basins  of  numerous  lakes,  including 
those  vast  inland  sheets  of  water  that  to-day  feed  the 
river  St  Lawrence.  We  may  add  that  the  theory 
propounded  by  Lyell,  as  to  the  gradual  growth  of  the 
earth,  is  now  dissented  from  by  various  modern  geolo- 
gists. Lord  Kelvin,  in  particular,  has  recently  urged 
that  in  the  period  of  our  earth's  infancy  and  adoles- 
cence its  growth  must  have  been,  like  any  other  infant 
organism,  vastly  more  rapid  and  pronounced  than  that 
of  a  later  day.    This  statement  cannot  fail  to  impress 


h  ! 


THE  CREATION  AND  GEOLOGY.   35 

itself  very  forcibly  on  every  thinking  mind.  At  the 
same  time  all  the  different  geological  theories  we 
have  presented  to  the  reader  must  convince  him  that 
speculative  geology  is  still  in  a  condition  of  uncer- 
tainty and  contradiction,  and  mainly  continues  to  be 
the  product  of  sceptical  ideas  seeking  some  excuse 
for  unbelief  in  all  revealed  religion. 

Like  astronomy,  geology  may  be  divided  into  two 
parts, — one  dealing  wholly  with  its  practical  side,  which 
rests  either  on  substantial  facts  or  sound  inductive 
reason,  while  the  other  side  rests  solely  on  speculative 
theories  or  on  conditions  of  mere  opinion.  Specu- 
lative geology,  therefore,  like  speculative  astronomy, 
leads  us  largely  into  the  novelist's  region  of  pure 
imagination.  Its  deductions  and  inferences  accord- 
ingly should  have  little  weight  with  common-sense 
people  who  have  learned  to  weigh  conflicting  evi- 
dence, and  to  accept  only  that  portion  of  it  which 
bears  the  stamp  of  truth.  Practical  geology  deals 
with  organic  matters  in  nature  as  they  actually  exist. 
Speculative  geology  is  perpetually  groping  among 
the  dim  and  uncertain  records  of  past  supposed  con- 
ditions ;  and  while  these  conditions  have  neither  solid 
proof  nor  even  plausible  reason  behind  them,  it  seeks 
to  bolster  up  its  case  by  a  dernier  ressort  to  fanciful 
theories.  It  essays  to  apply  the  rationalistic  doctrine 
of  evolution  to  the  formation  of  the  earth,  to  the 
plants  and  animals  which  exist  upon  its  surface,  and 
holds  to  Darwin's  idea  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  In 
opposition  to  these  theories,  honest  investigation  and 
intelligent  observation  lead  us  to  the  positive  conclu- 
sion that  while  many  types  of  existence  in  the  animal 
and  vegetable  kingdoms  have  wholly  disappeared,  — 
like  our  Northwest  buffalo,  for  example,  or  the  huge 
monsters  of  antediluvian  ages,  —  the  animal  and  vege- 
table existences  that  we  see  around  us  to-day  are 
precisely  of  the  same  character  as  they  were  when  first 
created.  The  animals  which  Adam  named,  as  they 
passed  in   review   before   him,  included    the    same 


-i* 


36     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


^  ■ 


J' 

i! 


species  as  those  which  entered  into  the  ark  with 
Noah ;  the  sheep  which  Abel  tended  and  offered  in 
sacrifice  were  the  legitimate  ancestors  of  the  sheep  of 
1904;   and  the  cock  which  crew  in  the  garden  of 
Eden,  or  during   the  night  before  the    crucifixion 
of  the  Redeemer,  was  of  the  same  order  of  birds  that 
crow  to-day.     Let  us  make  no  mistake  on  these  im- 
portant points,  and  let  us  never  forget  the  great  fact 
which  natural   history  so  forcibly  teaches  us,  that 
whatever  improvements  have  taken  place  among  the 
lower  animals,  either  as  regards  their  intelligence  or 
condition,  have  been  the  result  of  more  skilful  train- 
ing and  careful  breeding  by  their  owners,  and  not  the 
product  of  instinpt  or  any  other  faculty  on  their  part. 
The  grand  cardinal  fact  stands  untouched  by  the  doc- 
trine of  evolution  or  other  fancful  theory,  that  man, 
created  by  God  in  his  own  image  and  not  in  the 
image  of  the  gorilla,  is  the  only  living  being  who  has 
been  endowed  with  the  faculty  of  improving  his  own 
moral  and  physical  condition,  or  of  raising  himself  to 
a  higher  piano  of  intellectual  life.    That  cardinal  fact 
embodies  the  most  conclusive  answer  possible  to  all 
the  idle  theories  of  the  past  century  touching  the 
origin  of  the  human  race.     All  the  antediluvian  and 
other  skeletons  of  animals  found  in  the  caves  and 
gravel  beds  of  Europe  in  recent  years  were  related, 
in  most  cases,  to  species  with  which  we  are  familiar 
to-day ;  and  the  fossil  remains  of  monkeys,  discovered 
in  the  rock  strata  of  remote  ages,  belong  to  one  order 
or  another  of  the  monkey  families  that  now  exist  in 
tropical  regions.    We  may  also  add  here  a  fact,  which 
we  will  deal  with  more  fully  hereafter,  that  whenever 
properly  identified  ancient  human  remains  have  been 
discovered,  they  represented  the  same  anatomical  con- 
ditions that  now  prevail,  and  that  the  evolutionary 
idea  that  man  has  risen  from  the  lower  conditions  of 
animal  life   to   his   present  exalted  state  lacks  the 
slightest  particle  of  proof.    The  past  has  presented  us 
with  no  traces  of  the  supposed  evolutionary  process. 


m 
liii 


THE  CREATION  AND  GEOLOGY.      37 

While  the  nineteenth  century  may  justly  be  regarded 
as  one  of  wonderful  progress  in  every  department  of 

S>ractical  science,  and  thus  adding  greatly  to  the  com- 
brt,  the  happiness,  and  even  the  health  of  mankind,  it 
also  abounded,  as  we  have  already  shown,  in  unsound 
theories  of  every  description,  which  arose  like  water- 
bubbles  on  the  flowing  stream  of  human  thought,  to 
disappear  when  some  newer  theory  cast  its  pebble 
into  the  current.  Some  of  these  theories  still  exist, 
it  is  true,  but  the  progress  of  time  and  more  accurate 
analysation  have  gradually  weakened  their  force. 
The  human  mind  was  exceedingly  active  during  the 
past  century,  and,  not  content  with  legitimate  develop- 
ment, was,  like  the  Athenians  of  St.  Paul's  day,  per- 
petually seeking  after  some  new  thing.  Nor  did  this 
state  of  things  restrict  itself  to  the  realms  of  scientific 
thought.  It  presently  invaded  the  religious  world, 
crept  up  into  its  pulpits,  and  from  thence  descended 
to  the  pews  below.  History  was  repeating  itself  again. 
The  simple  gospel  of  Christ,  which  was  once  upon  a 
time  regarded  by  the  metaphysical  Greek  as  mere 
foolishness,  was  fast  becoming  a  stumbling-block  to 
the  philosophical  occupant  of  the  pulpit,  who  vainly 
essayed  to  harmonise  Biblical  truths  with  speculative 
geological  theories.  He  failed  simply  because  there 
were  no  grounds  for  harmony  between  them,  and  then 
tried  to  escape  from  the  difficulties  v/ith  which  he  had 
surrounded  himself  by  rejecting  the  Mosaic  account 
of  the  Creation,  and  other  parts  of  the  Bible  which  did 
not  suit  his  new  Higher  Criticism  ideas.  As  a  matter 
of  course  he  could  never  have  fully  examined  the  evi- 
dence at  both  sides  of  the  case,  or  fairly  measured 
the  baseless  theories  of  speculative  philosophy  against 
the  solid  truths  of  revealed  religion. 

In  the  beginning,  says  the  Bible,  God  created  the 
heaven  and  the  earth ;  and  again  it  tells  us,  that  while 
that  earth  remaineth,  seedtime  and  harvest,  and  cold 
and  heat,  and  summer  and  winter,  and  day  and  night, 
shall  not  cease.     Here  is  a  plain  statement  of  a  first 


J 


i.! : 


38     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

creation,  and  that  this  earth  will  not  always  remain,  — 
of  a  beginning  and  an  end, — which  our  minds  can  fully 
comprehend.  But  geology  has  no  narrative  whatever 
of  the  Creation  to  tell  us,  and  does  not  clear  up  a 
single  doubt  that  may  arise  as  to  its  character.  Ac- 
cording to  its  teaching,  as  propounded  by  Lyell  and 
others,  there  has  been  in  reality  no  Beginning  of 
Things  and  there  can  be  no  ending.  The  oldest 
known  rocks  —  the  old  red  sandstone  and  the  primary 
rocks  of  the  Palaeozoic  and  Laurentian  formations  — 
have  been  preceded  by  still  more  ancient  rocks, 
which  have  wholly  disappeared.  One  series  of  plants 
has  been  merely  the  successor  of  another  series  of 
plants.  One  type  of  animal  life  has  disappeared  be- 
fore another  ^pe  of  animal  life,  and  so  on,  ad  in- 
finitum, in  a  vast  perpetual  march  of  evolutionary 
progress.  In  accordance  with  the  teaching  of  Dar- 
win, in  his  "  Origin  of  Species,"  nature  in  the  vegetable 
world  was  governed  in  all  its  productive  features  by 
the  inexorable  law  of  the  survival  of  the  Attest ;  and 
every  form  of  animal  existence,  from  the  lowest  types 
up  to  man  himself,  was  subject  to  the  same  law. 
There  is  no  place  in  modem  speculative  thought  for 
the  hand  of  a  Creator.  Everything,  in  organic  nature, 
according  to  its  teachings,  is  the  product  of  favouring 
chance  or  of  natural  evolution  during  a  vast  period 
of  time.  How  long  that  period  has  endured  has  been 
the  subject  of  the  highest  scientific  calculations,  which 
to  the  ordinary  common-sense  individual  must  look 
more  as  a  matter  of  amusement  chin  of  serious  con- 
sideration. Several  solemn  scientistb  have  placed  the 
first  dawn  of  a  terrestrial  beginning  as  occurring  many 
millions  of  years  ago.  For  example.  Dr.  Croll  declares 
that  this  world  of  ours  must  be  at  least  sixty  million 
years  old;  while  other  equally  good  authorities, 
among  whom  is  Sir  William  Thompson,  now  Lord 
Kelvin,  maintain,  on  the  opposite  hand,  that  its  growth 
must  have  taken  at  least  one  hundred  million  years. 
If  Thompson  is  right,  then  Croll  must  be  wrong  in 


THE  CREATION  AND  GEOLOGY.   39 

hit  estimate  by  forty  million  years.  Which  of 
these  great  lights  of  modern  geological  science  are 
we  to  believe,  or  can  we  resist  the  manifest  conclusion 
that  when  they  in  this  way  leave  the  beaten  paths  of 
fact  and  inductive  reason,  and  give  themselves  up  to 
baseless  speculation,  both  are  alike  unworthy  of  any 
credence  whatever? 

The  eminent  Scotchman,  James  Hutton,  who,  as 
we  have  already  stated,  was  one  of  the  principal 
founders  of  inductive  geological  science,  found  that 
science  in  a  very  fragmentary  and  discredited  condi- 
tion. It  was  then  customary  with  geologists  to  begin 
all  investigations  into  the  history  of  the  earth  by  first 
adopting  some  imaginary  hypothesis  as  to  the  origin 
of  our  planet  or  of  the  whole  universe,  and  after- 
wards build  up  their  conclusions  thereon.  Hutton 
strenuously  opposed  this  illogical  practice,  as  being 
altogether  erroneous,  and  maintained  that  it  is  no 
part  of  the  province  of  geology  to  discusii  the  origin 
of  things.  He  states  most  truly, "  that  in  the  mate- 
rials from  which  geological  evidence  may  be  com- 
piled there  can  be  found  no  traces  of  a  beginning,  no 
prospect  of  an  end,"  —  a  condition  of  things  beyond 
the  compass  of  man's  intellectual  comprehension.  In 
England,  owing  to  the  school  which  Hutton  founded, 
and  the  labours  of  the  Geological  Society,  the  crude 
and  unscientific  cosmologies  of  the  earlier  writers  on 
geology  were  soon  wholly  discredited.  Even  "  The 
Theory  of  the  Earth,"  the  work  of  the  great  French 
naturalist,  Cuvier,  never  reached  another  edition.  But 
while  the  pendulum  of  philosophical  thought  for  the 
time  being  now  swung  too  far,  perhaps,  in  an  oppo- 
site direction,  it  still  remains  true  that  in  the  whole 
sum  of  geological  data  there  has  been  found  no  posi- 
tive evidence  of  the  Beginning  of  Things,  and  noting 
whatever  pointing  to  an  end.  Geology,  by  itself,  has 
not  yet  revealed,  and  never  can  reveal,  the  historical 
origin  of  the  first  solid  crust  of  the  earth.  Its  pri- 
mary chapter  begins  with  merely  the  rocks  of  that 


MKROCOPV  RBOUITION  TBT  CHART 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


>IPPLIED   ItVHGE      Inc 

tGS3  Eaat  Main  StrtX 

RochMter,  N«w  Yorit        14609      USA 

(716)  ♦82  -  0300  -  Phon. 

(716)  288-5989  -  Fm 


1^' 


40     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


crust.     If  we  seek   to  ascend   beyond  that  chapter 
towards  the  Beginning  of  Things,  even  with  the  aid 
of  the  telescope,  the  spectroscope,  and  the  chemical 
laboratory,  we  speedily  find  ourselves  in  the  realms 
of  uncertain  and  indefinite  speculation.     "  In  dealing 
with  the  Geological  Record,  as  the  accessible  solid  part 
of  the  globe  is  called,"  says  an  eminent  writer  in  the 
"  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,"  "  we  cannot  too  vividly 
realise  that  at  the  best  it  forms  but  an  imperfect 
chronicle.     Geological   history  cannot  be  compiled 
from  a  full  and  continuous  series  of  documents.   From 
the  very  nature  of  its  origin  the  record  is  necessarily 
fragmentary;  and  it  has  been  further  mutilated  and 
obscured  by  the  revolutions  of  successive  ages.    And 
even  when  the  chronicle  of  events  is  continuous,  it  is 
of  very  unequal  value  in  different  places.     In  one 
case,  for  example,  it  may  present  us  with  an  un- 
jjroken  succession  of  deposits,  many  thousands  of  feet 
in  thickness,  from  which,  however,  only  a  few  meagre 
facts  as  to  its  geological  history  may  be  gleaned.     In 
another  instance  it  brings  before  us,  within  the  com- 
pass of  a  few  yards,  the  evidence  of  a  most  important 
and  complicated  series  of  changes  in  physical  geog- 
raphy, as  well  as  an  abundant  and  interesting  suite  of 
organic  remains.  .  .  .  In  dealing  with  geological  ques- 
tions we  should  be  on  our  guard  against  the  assump- 
tion that  the  phases  of  nature's  operations  which  we 
now  witness  have  always  been  the  same,  that  geologi- 
cal changes  have  taken  place  in  former  periods  of  the 
earth's  history  on  the  scale  and  in  the  same  ratio  of 
progress  we  behold  to-day.     For  all  we  know  the 
present  era  of  the  world  may  be  one  of  quietude  and 
slow  change  compared  with  some  of  the  eras  which 
have  preceded  it."    This  is  eminently  the  language 
of  logical  thinking  out  and  common-sense ;  and  we 
must  regard  it  as  especially  so  when  we  remember 
that  it  is  applied  to  what  may  be  properly  considered 
as  a  new  science,  still  in  the  process  of  first  develop- 
ment.    It  declines  to  endorse  Lyell's  position,  that 


!-i 


THE  CREATION  AND  GEOLOGY.   41 

the  progress  of  the  earth  has  always  been  of  uniform 
degree,  and  the  same  as  we  see  it  to-day,  —  a  theory 
which  has  no  solid  proof  whatever  behind  it     Hence 
it  is  nothing  more  than  a  mere  speculative  idea.     De- 
spite all  the  geological  facts  and  inferential  deduc- 
tions which  have  been  accumulated  during  the  past 
century,  it  is  surprising  how  very  little  we  know  to- 
day about  the  physical  condition  of  our  earth.    Geol- 
ogy has  only  investigated,  here  and  there,  a  very 
small  portion  of  its  crust,  and  the  vast  remainder  still 
continues  a  sealed  book  to  science.     We  cannot  even 
explain  the  phenomena  of  volcanic  action  or  whence 
it  proceeds ;  and  the  discussion  over  the  structure  of 
the  earth  is  still  nearly  as  warm  and  as  active  as  at 
any  former  period.     As  to  the  probable  condition 
of  its  interior,  in  the  absence  of  solid  fact,  various 
theories,  mostly  of  a  fanciful  and  at  times  amusing 
character,  have  been  propounded.     Among  all  these 
theories  there  are  only  three  which  merit  any  serious 
consideration.     One  of  these  supposes  the  earth  to 
consist  of  a  solid  crust  and  a  molten  interior ;   the 
second  asserts  that,  with  the  exception  of  local  ve- 
sicular spaces,  this  globe  is  solid   and  rigid   to  its 
centre;  the  third  contends  that,  while  the  mass  of 
the  globe  is  solid,  there  exists  a  liquid  substratum 
beneath  the  crust.     Hopkins,  an  eminent  Cambridge 
mathematician,  favours  the  second  hypothesis;  De- 
launy,  equally  eminent,  advocates  the  molten  interior ; 
and  Sir  William  Thompson,  another  great  authority 
on  natural  physics,  stands  up  stoutly  for  the  whole 
solidity  of  the  globe.     Where  doctors  disagree  in  this 
way,  ordinary  common-sense  people  can  only  come 
to  one  conclusion,  namely,  that  they  know  as  little 
de  facto  about  the  question  they  are  so  vigorously 
discussing  as  the  uncultured  peasant  who  whistles 
behind  the  plough,  and  who  can  see  through  a  stone 
wall  quite  as  far  as  they  can.    And  this  is  precisely 
the  general  character  of  much  of  the  teaching  that 
has  proved  such  a  stumbling-block  to  the  Christian 


' 


!fi 


,  I 


42      THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

pulpit  of  our  day  and  generation.  Speculative 
science  must  have  been  very  slenderly  studied  when 
its  empty  theories  are  permitted  to  supplant,  to 
any  extent,  religious  faith  and  the  simple  gospel  of 
Christ. 

Of  all  the  numerous  writers  on  geology  which  the 
last  century  produced.  Sir  Charles  LyelP  occupies 
the  highest  place.     He  did  more  than  all  its  other 
writers  put  together  to  elevate  geology  into  an  in- 
ductive science,  and  to  mould  public  opinion  in  its 
favour.    His  evident  intentional  fairness,  the  moderate 
and  careful  way  in  which  he  marshals  his  facts  and 
opinions,  his  clear  and  concise  style  of  writing,  and 
his  intimate  acquaintance  with  his  subject,  imparted 
a  most  convincing  character  to  his  teachings.     In  a 
most  methodical  and  skilful  way  he  brought  geological 
system  and  order,  out  of  a  chaos  of  want  of  system 
and  disorder.     In  performing  this  task  he  did  not 
confine  himself  to  his  own  researches  and  opinions ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  availed  himself  of  whatever  he 
considered  valuable  in  the  works  of  all  his  prede- 
cessors in  the  geological  field.     All  their  knowledge 
was  skilfully  assimilated  by  him ;  and  he  may  there- 
fore be  regarded  as  stating  the  whole  case  in  behalf 
of  geological  science  as  it  stood  at  the  time.     His 
works,  accordingly,  have  done  more  to  discredit  the 

>  Sir  Charles  Lyell  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  was  bom  on  the 
family  estate  m  Forfarshire  on  Nov.  14,  1797.  After  taking  his  de- 
gree at  Oxford  he  was  called  to  the  bar,  and  practised  as  a  barrister 
for  a  few  years.  But  he  gradually  became  more  and  more  devoted 
to  scientific  pursuits,  and  in  1827  abandoned  the  legal  profession,  and 
devoted  himself  wholly  to  geology.  In  1832  he  published  his  first 
work,  "The  Principles  of  Geology,"  which  met  with  much  hostile 
criticism.  In  1838  his  "  Elements  of  Geology  "  appeared.  In  1863 
his  "  Antiquity  of  Man  "  was  well  received  by  the  public,  and  speedily 
went  through  several  editions.  In  187 1  he  published  his  last  work 
"  The  Student's  Elements  of  Geology,"  which  embraced  all  his  more 
recent  discoveries.  In  1848  he  was  knighted  by  Queen  Victoria  for 
his  services  in  the  cause  of  science.  He  died  in  February,  1875,  >«  his 
seventy-eighth  year,  and  was  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey.  For  a 
few  years  before  his  death  he  became  very  feeble,  and  his  sight  failed 
him  altogether. 


THE  CREATION  AND  GEOLOGY.       43 

Mosaic  account  of  the  Creation,  and  more  harm  to 
revealed  religion,  than  those  of  all  his  contemporaries 
combined.  Even  as  regards  the  great  majority  of 
educated  people,  geology  is  generally  looked  upon 
as  a  dry  and  abstruse  science,  which  has  few  attractions 
in  itself.  So  Lyell's  teaching  was  ultimately  accepted, 
almost  without  enquiry,  or  the  critical  examination 
of  the  other  side  of  the  questions  at  issue.  He  was  a 
man  of  much  caution,  and  at  times  was  quite  ready  to 
support  a  weak  theory  with  favourable  contemporary 
opinion.  And,  yet,  with  all  his  caution,  and  all  his 
careful  marshalling  of  presumed  facts  and  inductive 
proofs,  the  progress  of  time  and  riper  knowledge  have 
largely  discredited  much  of  his  work.  When  he 
leaves  the  safe  ground  of  practical  geology,  he  is  lost, 
like  so  many  other  scientists  of  his  generation,  in  the 
cloud-land  of  speculation,  and  is  not  one  whit  more 
reliable  than  the  general  class  of  theorists  of  his  day. 
A  remarkable  instance  in  support  of  this  statement 
occurred  during  his  visit  to  Canada  in  1842,  when  he 
estimated  that  the  Falls  of  Niagara  receded  one  foot 
annually,  and  that  they  had,  therefore,  taken  thirty- 
five  thousand  years  to  work  their  way  upwards  from 
Queenston  Heights  to  their  present  position,  a  dis- 
tance of  nearly  seven  miles.  Lyell  was  evidently 
too  eager  to  score  a  point  in  support  of  his  theory  of 
the  great  age  of  this  globe,  to  examine  carefully  all 
the  surrounding  conditions  of  the  situation  before 
making  his  calculations.  Let  us  now  see  how  these 
conditions  stand.  To  begin  at  the  beginning,  we 
may  state  that  the  distance  from  Lake  Erie  to 
Niagara  Falls  is  about  22  miles.  At  the  site  of  tht 
International  Railway  bridge  between  Buffalo  and 
Fort  Erie,  the  river  is  1,900  feet  wide,  its  greatest 
depth  48  feet,  and  its  normal  current  flows  at  the  rate 
of  five  and  a  half  miles  an  hour.  Two  miles  below 
this  bridge  the  river  is  divided  into  two  branches  by 
Grand  Island  12  miles  long,  and  from  two  to  seven 
miles  wide.    Below  Grand  Island  it  expands  into  a 


,1 


44     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

lake  about  two  and  a  half  miles  wide,  and  moves 
gently  downwards  among  several  small  islands      A 
httle  over  half  a  mile  above  the  rails  the  current 
again  narrows,  and  the  Rapids,  with  a  total  descent  of 
52  feet,  commence.     They  speedily  terminate  in  the 
great  cataract,  which  has  a  descent  on  the  American 
side  of  164  feet  and  on  the  Canadian  of  150  feet,  with 
Goat  Island,  which  rises  to  a  height  of  40  feet  above 
the  water,  and  extends  to  the  verge  of  the  precipice 
dividing  the  Falls  into  two  parts.     The  Horse-shoe 
Falls,  on  the  Canadian  side,  are  about  2,200  feet  in 
width,  and  the  American  Falls  1,230  feet;  while  Goat 
Island,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide,  takes  up  the  remain- 
ing space  of  the  4,750  feet  of  the  total  width  from 
one  mainland  to  the  other.     From  the  foot  o*"  the 
Falls  to  Queenston  the  river  has  a  fall  of  104  feet, 
and  rushes  through  a  narrow  gorge  averaging  from' 
700  feet  to  1,200  feet  in  width,  and  with  a  depth  -f 
nearly  300  feet.    It  will  thus  be  seen  that  while  the 
total  width  of  the  Falls  where  they  now  stand  is  ^,430 
feet,  or  considerably  over  half  a  mile,  wirh  an  average 
depth  at  the  point  of  descent  of  some  15  feet,  the 
force  of  the  current  is  much  weaker  than  it  was  when 
the  two  Falls  were  united  in  one,  and   compressed 
into  an  average  width  of  some  700  feet,  while  their 
depth  at  their  final  leap  into  the  abyss  below  must 
have  been  many  times  greater  than  it  is  at  present 
Kept  in  Its  narrow  course  by  the  heights  on  either 
side,  the  current  must  have  at  least  seven  times  the 
destructive  force  it  has  now,  so  that  it  would  take  only 
5, 000  years,  or  about  the  interval  between  the  Deluge 
and  the  commencement  of  the  past  century,  instead 
of  the  35,000  years  as  stated  by  Lyell,  for  the  retro- 
cession of  the  Falls  from  Queenston  Heights  to  their 
present   position.     When   we   further  consider  that 
much  less  water  on   the  average   now  passes  over 
Niagara  Falls,  than  was  the  case  before  the  river  and 
lake  shores  above  them  were  denuded  so  largely  of 
their  original  adjacent  forests,  which  protected  the 


THE  CREATION  AND  GEOLOGY.   45 

moisture  in  the  soil  from  the  sun's  rays,  the  more  rapid 
tearing  out  of  the  channel  of  the  river  above  Queens- 
ton  Heights  will  be  still  more  easily  understood.* 

When  we  come  to  analyse  Lyell's  geological  teach- 
ings we  find  that  in  several  cases  he  produces  very 
strong  evidence  in  support  of  the  Mosaic  account  of 
the  Creation,  and  also  of  the  Deluge;  and  so  uncon- 
sciously, no  doubt,  for  he  was  no  friend  to  the  Bible, 
proves  the  opposite  side  of  his  own  argument,  as  we 
will  show  hereafter.  He  was  eminently  a  man  of 
much  patient  method,  and  so  at  an  early  period  of 
his  geological  labours  we  find  him  making  a  careful 
classification  of  sea  and  fresh-water  shells  and  other 
fossil  remains,  found  imbedded  in  coal  and  rock  for- 
mations, in  the  soil,  or  on  the  tops  of  mountains. 
This  was  done  in  order  to  illustrate  and  confirm  his 
hypothesis  as  to  the  long  and  various  periods  con- 
sumed in  the  slow  process  of  the  growth  of  the  crust 
of  the  earth.  The  regular  and  orderly  way,  accord- 
ing to  him,  in  which  that  process  developed  itself  was 
the  reflection  of  his  own  well-regulated  mind ;  and 
although  more  recent  scientific  opinion  now  largely 
declines  to  accept  his  theory,  it  had  great  weight  in 
the  world  of  thought  when  first  propounded.  To  the 
first  or  oldest  of  his  shell-classifications  he  gave  the 
name  of  Eocene  (dawn  of  recent) ;  to  the  second 
Miocene  (less  of  recent) ;  to  the  third  Pliocene  (more 
of  recent).  The  fossil  shells  of  the  Eocene  period 
contain  only  a  small  proportion  of  present  living 
species,  and  may  be  regarded  as  indicating  the  dawn 
of  the  existing  state  of  the  testaceous  fauna,  no  re- 
cent species  having  been  found  by  Lyell  in  the  older 
or  secondary  rocks.  In  the  Miocene  period  is  found 
a  larger  proportion  of  existing  cretaceous  life,  and  in 
the  Pliocene  period  a  still  larger  proportion  presents 
itself  for  consideration.  These  three  divisions  form  the 
basis  of  his  inferential  argument,  as  to  the  great  ages 

*  The  United  States  Geological  Survey  of  recent  years  ako  dis- 
credits Lyell's  calculations. 


m 


ill 


46     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

of  rocks.     But  it  will  at  once  be  seen  that  his  position 
in  that  direction  does  not  rise  beyond  the  region  of 
hypothesis,  and  has  no  conclusive  proof  behind  it. 
It  is,  owing  to  the  absence  of  actual  fact,  specula- 
tive  geology,  and   nothing  more;    and   speculative 
geology  has  not  a  whit  greater  claim  on  our  serious 
consideration  than   speculative  astronomy.     "Con- 
sider for  a  moment,"  says  Professor  Geikie,i  Director 
General  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  England   and 
Ireland,  "  what  would  happen  were  the  present  sur- 
face of  any  portion  of  central  or  southern  Europe  to 
be  submerged  beneath  the  sea,  covered  by  marine 
deposits,  and  then  re-elevated  into  land.     The  river 
terraces  and  lacustrine  marls  formed  before  the  time 
of  Julius  Caesar  could  not  be  distinguished  by  any 
fossil  tests  from  those  laid  down  in  the  days  of  Queen 
Victoria,  unless,  indeed,  traces  of  human  implements 
were  obtainable,  whereby  the  progress  of  civilisation 
during  2,000  years  might  be  indicated.     So  far  as  re- 
gards the  shells,  bones,  and  plants,  preserved  in  the 
various  formations,  it  would  be  absolutely  impossible 
to  discriminate  their  relative  dates ;  they  would  be 
classed  as  '  geologically  contemporaneous,'  that  is  as 
having  been  formed  during  the  same  period  in  the 
history  of  life  in  the  European  area ;  yet  there  might 
be  a  difference  of  2,000  years  or  more  between  many 
of  them.     Strict  contemporaneity  cannot  be  asserted 
of  any  strata  merely  on  the  ground  of  similarity  or 
identity  of  fossils.     But  the  phrase  '  geologically  con- 
temporaneous '  is  too  vague  to  have  any  chronological 
value,  except  in  a  relative  sense.     To  speak  of  two 
formations  as  in  any  sense  contemporaneous,  which 
may  have  been  separated  by  thousands  of  years,  seems 
rather  a  misuse  of  language,  though  the  phraseology 
has  now  gained  such  a  footing,  in  geological  literature, 
as  probably  to  be  inexpugnable.     If  we  turn  again  for 
suggestions  as  to  the  existing  distribution  of  life  on 

'  Author  of  the  geological  article  in  the  "  Encyclopsedia  Briun- 
nica,"  ninth  edition. 


THE  CREATION  AND  GEOLOGY.   47 

this  earth,  we  learn  that  similarity  or  identity  of  species 
and  genera  only  hold  good,  on  the  whole,  for  limited 
areas.  .  .  .  The  history  of  life  has  been  very  imper- 
fectly preserved  in  the  stratified  parts  of  the  earth's 
crust.  Enormous  gaps  occur  where  no  record  has 
been  preserved  at  all.  From  all  these  facts  it  would 
appear  that  the  geological  record,  as  it  now  exists, 
is  at  the  best  but  an  imperfect  record  of  geological 
history." 

We  shall  now  proceed  to  examine  how  far  geology, 
as  expounded  by  its  greatest  apostle,  Lyell,  harmo- 
nises with  the  Biblical  narrative  of  the  Creation.     In 
Genesis  i.  9,  we  find,  that  on  the  third  day  of  the 
Creation,  God  said.  Let  the  waters  under  the  heaven 
be  gathered  together  unto  one  place,  and  lot  the  dry 
land  appear;  and  it  was  so.    And  God  called  the  dry 
land  Earth,  and  the  gathering  together  of  the  waters 
called  he  Seas.     In  these  verses  it  is  clearly  shown 
that  the  earth  when  first  created  was  covered   by 
water,  and  that  the  dry  land  afterwards  appeared  at  a 
higher  level  than  the  water.    Lyell  shows  very  plainly 
that  this  was  what  actually  occurred,  and   that  the 
land  has  been  raised  and  not  the  sea  lowered.    The 
ocean  cannot  be  raised  or  depressed  in  one  place 
without  its  level  being  changed  all  over  the  globe.^ 
This  position  was  subsequently  confirmed  by  the  evi- 
dence secured  by  the  various  expeditions  sent  out  by 
the  British  government  to  make  deep-sea  soundings. 
That  evidence  positively  proves  that  the  existing  great 
areas  of  land  and  sea  have  on  the  whole  remained  from 
their  first  creation  where  they  are  to-day,  and  that  what- 
ever changes  may  have  taken  place  in  their  relative 
areas  have  been  limited  and  local  in  their  character. 
But  much  more  than  this  was  proved.    Encouraged  by 
the  success  of  previous  hydrographic  surveys,  although 
in  a  limited  area,  the  British  government,  in  1872, 
determined  on  a  full  exploration  of  the  great  ocean 
beds.    For  this  purpose  the  steamer  Challenger,  a 

1  Lyell's  S.  Elements  of  Geology,  p.  70. 


pi 


48     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

fine  war  craft  of  2,000  tons'  displacement,  was  fitted 
out  in  the  most  complete  manner,  with  every  needed 
scientific  appliance,  and  sailed  fi-om  Sheerness  on  her 
mission  which  lasted  for  three  years  and  a  half,  on 
the    I  sth  November.   1872.     She  carried  out  with 
her  an  able  scientific  staff,  headed  by  P.  ifessor  Sir 
^^'''J'u^-  P°'"»?P'  F-RS..  whose    final   report 
shoiwed  how  thoroughly  and  ably  the  instructions  of  the 
hydrographic  department  of  the  Admiralty  had  been 
carried  out.    This  expedition  might  well  be  said  to 
constitute  a  new  epoch  in  geological  discovery:  and 
Its  results  demonstrated,  in  the  clearest  manner,  how 
erroneous  many  of  the  theories  of  Lyell  and  other 
scientists  had  been      Hutton  had  always  contended 
that  all  rocks  had  been  formed  below  water,  while 
Lyell  maintained  that  the  Plutonic  rock  strata  had 
their  origin  beneath  the  great  pressure  of  the  ocean  » 
A.      deep   soundings,  made   from    the   Challenger, 
showed  that  the  abyssal  deposits,  at  the  bottom  of  the 
ocean,  had  absolutely  no  counterpart  whatever  among 
the  formations  of  the  earth's  crust;  and  that,  con- 
trary to  geological  teaching,  no  part  of  that  crust 
could  ever  have  been  gradually  formed  below  deep 
water.     Thus  we  see  that  actually  proved  facts  brine 
us  in  closer  touch  with  the  Mosaic  account  of  the 
Creation,  and  utterly  dissipate  dozens  of  speculative 
geological  theories. 

About  three-fourths  of  the  surface  of  the  globe,  or 
144.712,000  square  miles,  are  covered  by  the  irreeu- 
ar  sheet  of  water  known  as  the  sea.  During  the 
latter  part  of  the  past  century  hydrographic  surveys 
have  thrown  a  flood  of  new  light  upon  the  depths 
temperature,  and  biological  condition  of  the  ereat 
ocean  basins.  The  deepest  part  of  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  was  found  to  be  within  a  fraction  of  four  and  a 
half  miles;  while  the  average  depth  varied  from  two 

AlVt       *"''  ^  ¥^  '"''^'-     ^"  ^^^  Pa<=''fic  Ocean,  the 
<-hallenger  got  deep  soundings  ranging  from  four  and 

>  S.  Elements  of  Geology,  pp.  16,  20^  32. 


THE  CREATION  AND  GEO,  OGY.       49 

a  half  to  five  miles,  while  its  averree  de-  '1  wa,  «^«. 
what  greater  than   that  of  the  SlanWr  1    A         ' 
therefore,  be  safely  assumed  th^tfh^ave'    e  S 
of  the  ocean  is  nearly  three  mile«      Tul        .    /P^ 

brake  forth   a,  if  f.  had  ?«ued'oVT,hetlmh 
for  it  my  decreed   olace   3    l-I  u   ''^"a  brake  up 

:nd^  Mrs.;?^       "-He;^ 

pressive  acc'ount%ivei  in'"tht  Book%rTob"of  rhe' 
first  and  immediate  creation  of  the  sef  in  thVL 
appointed  for  it  by  God  where  it  k!„  ,1  '  *"*^  P.'^<=*^ 
from  that  day  to  this  and  mn«f  .1  "^^^^  "-emained 
this  earth  endureth  As  air  Xstat^d^l  T""  ^^''^ 
soundings  have  pro>^d  tLt  fJll   '  ''^"^^^P"*'*^'^^" 

^^t  one  time  a  li^uid^^oltS  ^.t  ^n^or^da^t^; 

the^^errtht^  t^^:::^/^^::^''  ''^' 

period  of  time;  and  that  all.Tr ^^1  £l   nfT 
vanous  rock  formations  took  pCdudn^thlt  period 

•hip  Nero  while  on  the  iSulu  Ma^iUa  rlht  ^"'''^  States  steam- 
borrowed  from  the  Albatross     VA'heni.^^*  """"ty'  "^-^  "PParatus 

Mount  Everest,  the  highest  mountain  on  «^fc  *"  "*.  ""^'s-  " 
ho  e.  it  would  have  alS,ve  t»  summ U  a  denth  „'f*,"*  "/  '^°'^  '"  ">» 
half  a  mile  of  water.  ""mmit  a  depth  of  2,612  feet,  or  nearly 


i 


50    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

If  this  were  the  case  there  must  have  been  a  large 
mass  of  marine  organisms  deposited  at  the  bottom  of 
the  sea.  just  as  there  is  to-day,  but  in  a  much  greater 
quantity,  as  the  presumed  geological  period  would 
have  antedated  the  Creation  by  many  millions  of  years. 
But  the  older  rocks  tell  quite  a  different  story.  They 
contam  no  fossil  remains  of  marine  life;  and,  as  we 
have  already  stated,  no  traces  of  the  ocean  abyssal 
deposits  have  ever  been  found  in  the  earth's  crust. 
These  deposits  differ  entirely  from  any  land  forma- 
tion which  geologists  considered  to  be  of  deep-water 
origin.  This  fact  plainly  proves  that  there  were  no 
living  organisms  in  the  waters  that  covered  the  earth 

n  i   .;,?'■!'  l^y'  °^  **>*  Creation.     On  the  fifth  day 
Ciod   filled  the  waters  with  marine   life  — with  the 
great  whale  and  all  the  other  living  organisms  that 
belong  to  tne  sea.    That  was  two  days  after  the  dry 
land  had  appeared,  and  the  waters  had  been  gathered 
together  in  one  place.    If  we  believe  that  narrative,  we 
must  also  believe  that  the  seas  at  first  had  no  livine 
creatures  in  them,  to  afterwards  become  fossil  remains ; 
and  that  the  shells  now  found  upon  the  highest  moun- 
tain tops  were  all  deposited  there  at  a  more  recent 
period.    In  old  dried  up  small  seas  or  lake  beds,  and 
below  tide-water  marks,  along  the  margin  of  the  land, 
where  sediment  is  gradually  deposited,  the  conditions 
are  favourable  for  the  preservation  of  marine  orga- 
nisms ;  and  there  the  more  durable  parts  of  the  remains 
ot  many  forms  of  life  may  be  entombed  and  protected 
from  decay.    And  it  is  there,  also,  that  we  must  look 
for  the  mam  masses  in  the  stratified  formations  of  the 
earth  s  crust,  and  not  beneath  the  bed  of  the  ocean, 
which  can  only  be  effected  by  volcanic  action  rarely 
visible  above  its  surface.^ 

Lyell  was  not  always  consistent  even  as  regards  his 
own  geological  doctrines;  and  at  times  did  not  ap- 
pear to  realise  precisely  on  what  ground  he  actually 
stood.    Lamarck,  a  noted  French  scientist  of  the  first 
»  Ency.  Brit.,  Vol.  X.  p.  32a 


i  ! 


THE  CREATION  AND   GEOLOGY.       51 

Sfco^ntSforK  ""^"'y'  ■^^^^^'^'^d  »he  theory 
testacea  or  shell  species;  next  came  the  reptile  poDu- 
InrJT**  ^^''^r^^'^'  the  mammals,  includ  n/man 
appeared      He  msisted  that  these  progressive  dodu 
jations  of  the  earth  had  developed  SncTon  another 

rurrSu'dii^s'"  T"?.'  ""'?^  *'''  «nfluence  of  changed 
surround  ngs       Lyell   reviewed   this  theory,   in   his 
Pr.nc.ples  of  Geology."  and  wholly  rejectTd  it     In 
Its  place  he  put  forward  a  modified   iypo?hesis  of 
specal  crea  .on.  to  the  effect  that  when  one  sp«ies 
of  animal  l.fe  became  extinct  a  new  species  had 
been  specially  created  to  supply  its  olac?  and  th.t 
en?  6:;'T''''r  °'  thin^^^xU^^ Tth^"^^^^^^^^^ 
nL  2^'    ^*^5°';d'"g  to  thfs  droll  theory,  no^one 
need  be  surpnsed  to  see  some  new  species  of  animal 
suddenly  spring  up  out  of  the  ground.  stJugUnrto 
get  freed  from  its  earthly  bonds.    This  crude  L5 
almost  unthinkable,  conception,  so  opposed  to  lVcTs 

any  accepted  as  true  by  many  of  his  geological  con- 

ofthis'frT^".r^"'°"'  with  himself.  ^TKoptron 
or  this  fanc.ful  theory,  propounded  too  bv  a  n^o« 
who  was  then  the  universally  Stt'ed  leader  of  tSe 
geological  world  shows  hoi.  creilus  as  we  1  as 
ndjculous,  men  of  the  very  highest  intellectual  attain 

S  maser'Sn""^  '"'"""'^^  ^°"^°"'  «"d'  «  « 
Snce'on'T;;''  IV^  uTto  TT''  I  5°*^"^ 
reUj-ned  his  be^fLte^eaTedV^e^nut'^'ar:;!!! 
gradually  won  him  over  to  his  own  agnostic  crTJd 
theo.J?nf^°^  '^r  ^°"^"""  °^  «^°l"tion,  and  Lyefs 

"WeLeTnotbr.';°r" 
his  cautious  anrl  ^f  ?  ^"  surprised,"  Lyell  tells  us  in 
lus  cautious  and  at  t.mes  non-committal  wav  "  thaf 

ocea'fwi?;"  or,  ^^°'°^  '''''  the'clSts  td 
oceans  were  not  always  placed  where  they  are  now  • 
although  the  imagination  may  well  be  overpowS, 


i 


52     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

when  it  contemplates  the  quantity  of  time  required 
for  such  a  revo  ution."  i     Lyell  did  not  live  sufficiently 
long  to  learn  how  completely  actual  fact,  developed 
durmg  the  long  cruise  of  the  Challenger,  contra- 
dicted him  on  this  point.   From  its  great  hydrographic 
survey  of  the  oceans,  we  now  know,  positively,  that 
the  land  and  the  sea.  outside  of  a  few  and  compara- 
tively small  local  changes,  have  always  remained  in 
their  present  positions  from  the  Creation  until  this 
day,  and  that  Lyell's  ideas.  In  the  opposite  direction, 
were  wholly  at  fault.     Yet  what  a  firm  hold  these 
Ideas  took  on  the  intellectual  world  when  they  were 
first  propounded.     By-and-by,   as  time  processes, 
fresh  discovery  and  newer  developments  will  enable 
us  to  revise,  or  wholly  discard,  one  after  another,  the 
crude  theories  in  speculative  geology  which  com- 
manded  so  much  undeserved  and  credulous   atten- 
tion, during  the  past  century,  and  which  raised  so 
many  doubts  and  difficulties  in  the  religious  world 

re2Z/^T?'  •?"  ^P.^t"'**^''*  S^°'°gy  ^*s  about 
reached  the  limits  which  we  designed  it  should  oc- 
cupy. It  IS  an  exceedingly  interesting  subject  to  the 
writer,  and  he  would  like  to  pursue  it  to  a  greater 
extent  But  as  we  are  only  writing  for  popnlar  in- 
formation, we  consider  we  have  said  quite  enough  to 
prove,  beyond  all  manner  of  doubt,  that  there  is  noth- 
ing in  honest  geological  science  to  disturb  the  faith 

S,/^^Ki  "?if"  "^  °!  '*'°™^"  •"  the  teachings  of 
the  Bible  That  fact  will  be  more  fully  shown  in  our 
future  chapter  on  the  "Deluge,"  in  which  we  shall 
have  to  recur  again  to  geological  development.  The 
reader  can  p->w  plainly  see,  for  himself  or  herself,  as 

torv^w"^'^  ^P  *^^J  ^.^''\S^  P^*^  ""^  the  contradic- 
tory theories  of  geological  agnosticism  rests  upon 
purely  speculative  foundations,  and  are  frequently 
of  such  a  fanciful,  and  even  ridiculous,  character  ,4 
to  merit  no  serious  consideration  of  any  kind 
beology,  at  its  best  standpoint,  has  no  consecutive 

*  S.  Elements  of  Geology,  p.  laa 


THE  CREATION  AND  GEOLOGY.   53 

history  of  the  earth  to  tell  us ;  nor.  as  we  have  already 
shown,  does  it  present  for  our  consideration  either  a 
beginning  or  an  end.  It  only  furnishes  us  with  a  few 
historical  facts,  gleaned  here  and  there  at  wide  inter- 
vals, in  the  vast  field  of  natural  physics.  In  point  of 
fact  geologists  know  little  or  next  to  nothing  posi- 
tively of  the  past  conditions  of  this  globe,  and!  as  we 
have  already  seen,  resort  at  times  to  the  merest  guess- 
work, in  order  to  conceal  the  ignorance  which  belongs 
to  themselves  in  common  with  less  pretentious  people 
No  one  can  tell  precisely,  from  existing  environments, 
whether  the  earlier  conditions   of  this  earth  were 

?'     '^•u,^''T  "^^f'  *^^y  ^""^  "°w;  and.  in  this  direc- 
tion. Biblical  teaching  is  unquestionably  much  clearer 
and  more  explicit  than  geological  teaching.     In  the 
providence  of  God,  and  for  his  own  wise  purposes, 
the  Deluge  drew  a  veil  across  the  past  conditions  of 
this  earth,  and  a  few  casual  glimpses,  beyond  that 
veil,  constitute  all  the  knowledge  in   that  direction 
we  possess.     Under  all  the  circumstances  of  the  situ- 
ation it  cannot  fail  to  be  a  matter  of  amazement,  to 
ll^^^}'\^}''^T^%P^ople.to  see  how  geological  theo- 
retical delusions,  like  similar  delusions  in  other  paths 
Of  science,  have  taken  such  firm  possession  of  the 
mmds  of  highly  educated  men ;  professors  in  coUeges 
and  universities,  members  of  the  learned  professions 
otherwise,  and  even  the  ministerial   pulpit.      This 
state  of  things  most  certainly  embodies  a  great  and 
manifest  mist  of  delusion,  which  it  is  to  be  sincerely 
hoped  the  morning  sun  of  more  sober  and   more 
ripened  thought  will  sooner  or  later  entirely  dissipate. 
Geology  as  a  science."  said  an  eminent  Cana- 
dian geologist.  Sir  William  Dawson,  in  1873.  "is  at 
present  in  a  peculiar    and    somewhat    exceptional 
state     Under  the  influence  of  a  few  men  of  com- 
manding  genius,  belonging  to  a  generation  now  pass- 
ing away,  it  has  made  such  gigantic  conquests  that 

rL*T '!f  ^*J^  ^'9^^^  "P  '"t°  '^ands  of  specialists, 
little  better  than  scientific  banditti,  liable  to  be  beaten 


i 


54     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE.       ^ 

in  detail,  and  prone  to  commit  outrages  on  common- 
sense  and  good  taste,   which  bring  their  otherwise 
good  cause  into  disrepute.    The  leaders  of  these 
bands  are  many  of  them  good  soldiers,  but  few  of 
them  fitted  to  be  general  officers,  and  none  of  them 
able  to  reunite  our  scattered  detachments.    We  need 
larger  mmds  of  broader  culture  and  wider  sympa- 
thies, to  organise  and  rule  the  lands  which  we  have 
subdued,  and  to  lead  to  further  conquests.     Few  of 
our  present  workers    have    enjoyed  that  thorough 
trammg,  m  mental  as  well  as  physical  science,  which 
IS  necessary  to  enaWe  men  even  of  great  powers  to 
take  large  and  lofty  views  of  the  scheme  of  nature. 
Hence  we  often  find  men,  who  are  fair  workers  in 
limited  departments,  reasoning  most  illogically,  tak- 
ing narrow  and  local  views,  elevating  the  exception 
mto  the  rule,  led  away  by  baseless  metaphysical 
subtleties,  quarrelling  with  men  who  look  at  special- 
ties from  a  different  point  of  view,  and  even  striving 
and  plotting  for  the  advancement  of  their  own  hobbies 
In  the  more  advanced  walks  of  scientific  research, 
they  are,  to  some  extent,  neutralised  by  that  free 
discussion  which  true  science  always  fosters;   though 
even  here   they  sometimes    vexatiously  arrest   the 
progress  of  truth,  or  open  floodgates  of  error  which 
it  may  require  much  labour  to  close.     But  in  public 
lectures  and  popular  publications  they  run  riot;  and 
are  stimulated  by  the  mistaken  opposition  of  narrow- 
minded  good  men,  by  the  love  of  the  new  and  sen- 
sational, and  by  the  rivalry  of  men  struggling  for 
place  and  position.    To  launch  a  clever  and  startling 
fallacy,  which  will  float  for  a  week,  and  stir  up  a  hard 
fight,  seems  almost  as  great  a  triumph  as  the  dis- 
covery of  an  important  fact  or  law;  and  the  honest 
student  is  distracted  with  the  multitude  of  doctrines 
and  hustled  aside  by  the  crowd  of  ambitious  ground- 
lings      .  .  Present  follies  will  pass  away,  and  a  new 
and  better  state  of  natural  science  will  arise  in  the 
future  by  its  own   internal  development.      Science 


THE  CREATION  AND  GEOLOGY.   55 

cannot  long  successfully  isolate  itself  from  God,  and 
Jt  cannot  fail,  as  it  approaches  nearer  to  the  consider- 
ation of  that  whjch  may  be  known  by  finite  minds  to 
be  humbled  by  the  contemplation  of  the  infinite."  ^ 

Ihis  was  the  condition  of  speculative  geoloeical 
science,  m   England    and    elsewhere,  twenty-seven 

whirh1?°'v5-ii'^"*'S'^'*  ^y  *"  ^™"«n'  authority, 
which  Sir  William  Dawson  most  undr  ,edly  wm. 
It  IS   needless  to  say  that  it  more  tha.    bears  out 

sub  Mt  ^^  ^*^^  ^^^^^  *^  '^^^'^^  ^^^  ^^""^ 

1  Dawson's  Story  of  the  Earth  and  Man,  p.  312. 


I  : 


CHAPTER  III 


I 


^1 


THE  THEORY  OF  EVOLUTION  CONSIDERED  IN  ITS 
RET.ATIONS  TO  REVEALED  RELIGION, 

The  theory  of  evolution,  as  it  is  now  propounded 
by  its     ..  "ocates,   is    the  doctrine    in    speculative 
science     h  :h  teaches  us,  that  the  higher   forms  of 
existence,   in   animate    and   inanimate   nature,   have 
gradually  been  unfolded   or   developed   from  lower 
ones.     It  further  assumes  that  its  principles  exict  in 
all  physical  laws,  not  only  as  regards  the  earth,  but 
also  as  regards  the  whole   universe.     Early  in  the 
eighteenth  century  the  term  evolution  was  introduced 
into  biological  writings,  in  order  to  denote  the  modus 
operandi  in  which  some  of  the  leading  physiologists,  of 
that  day,  conceived  that  the  generation  of  things  took 
place.    Supported  by  the  great  authority  of  Haller, 
the  first  physiologist  of  that  period,  the  doctrine  of 
evolution  in  its  application  to  physiology  prevailed 
throughout  the  whole  of  the  century,  although  that 
application  was  thoroughly  exploded   by  Wolff  in 
1759.     But    although  the    conceptions  denoted  by 
evolution  were  shown  to  be  untenable,  the  word  still 
retained  its  application  to  the  process  by  which  the 
embryos  of  living  things    make  their  appearance. 
Evolution,  or  development,  is  still  used  in  biology 
to  denote  the  steps  by  which  any  living  being  has 
acquired   its  existing  conditions.     It  teaches,  as   a 
general  law,  that  every  living  thing  is  evolved  from 
some  particle  or  germ  of  matter,  in  which  no  trace  of 
the  distinctive  character  of  the  matured  form  of  that 
living  thing  is  discernible.     In  all  cases  the  process 


EVOLUTION  AND  RELIGION.  57 

of  evolution  consists  in  a  succession  of  changes,  in 
the  form,  structure,  and  functions  of  the  germ,  by 
which  it  passes,  in  a  series  of  steps,  from  its  original 
condition  of  extreme  simplicity  to  a  more  complex 
and  perfect  organism.   In  all  animals  and  plants  this 
germ  is  a  nucleated  cell;  and  the  first  step,  in  the 
process  of  the  evolution  of  the  individual,  is  the  sepa- 
ration of  this  cell  into  two  or  more  parts.    The  pro- 
cess  of  division   is   repeated,    until  the  single  cell 
becomes  an  aggregate  of  cells,  which  gradually  ex- 
pands into  the  perfect  form  of  existence.   The  "  Origin 
of  Species,"  the  work  of  Darwin,  one  of  the  great 
modern  apostles  of  evolution,  made  its  appearance 
in  1859,  and  was  at  once  exultingly  received  by  all 
the  leaders  of  agnostic  thought,  including  Huxley, 
Tyndall,  Lubbock,  and  Spencer,  filling  out  as  it  did 
many  of  the  gaps  in  theoretical  science  which  had 
hitherto  existed.     "The  book  came  into  the  world," 
as  Huxley  said,  at  the  time,  "  like  a  flash  of  light  in 
the  darkness,  enabling  the  benighted  voyager  to  see 
his  way."    It  was  the  product  of  much  patient  think- 
mg  out  by  its  author,  for  a  number  of  years,  took  the 
scientific  world  by  surprise,  and  placed  the  doctrine 
of  evolution  on  a  vastly  more  substantial  foundation 
than  it  had  rested  on  before. 

The  biological  doctrine  of  evolution,  as  Darwin 
left  it,  regards  all  the  higher  forms  of  life  as  grad- 
ually arising  out  of  its  lower  forms,  in  an  orderly 
succession  of  events,  or  process  of  improvement. 
Evolution  may  now  be  defined  as  including  all 
theories  respecting  the  origin  and  order  of  the  world, 
which  regard  the  higher,  or  more  complex  forms  of 
existence,  as  following  and  depending  on  the  lower 
and  simple  forms ;  and  the  changes  which  take  place 
as  a  gradual  transition  from  the  indefinite  to  the 
definite  —  from  the  uniform  to  the  varied.  Evolution 
further  assumes  that  the  cause  of  this  process  of  pro- 
gression is  immanent  to  the  world,  that  is  thus  trans- 
formed; or,  in  other  words,  that  the  intelligent  and 


58     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

verse  iiseii,  a  fundamental  concept  on  of  oantheUm 
which  wholly  ignores  a  Creator.Vr  Ltcfuse  AH 
existing  theories  of  evolution  regard  the  phvsica 

s'mpt  To  ll  "I'l  °'^,  ^Jf*^"^  P-<=-  fro-  tt 
simple  to  the  complex,  look  upon  the  develooment 

oforgamc  life  as  arising  from  an  inoreanfrworS  «f 

nection,  is  looked  on  by  the  evolutionist  as  th«. 
highest  phase  of  al\  development,  and  since  man't 
development  is  said  to  be  an  increase  in  weU-bSSJ 
and  happiness,  we  do  not  greatly  err  when  we  soeak 
of  evolution  as  a  transition  from  the  lo^eTto  Se 

thfJ^'.^T*''^*^"^*^*''*^  better."  wTmay  add 
that  the  hypothesis  of  evolution  also  aims  a^  an- 

SnloVrr^""  °f  *J"^^*'°"'  respectfng  the  Be- 
ff  irn.?.  J^'L"^-     ^^^''^y'  *°  ^''P'^'n  the  probltm 

everywhere  in  our  physical  environments.  It  also 
professes  to  account  for  the  origin  of  the  mind  in  the 
human  body,  and  to  teach  human  historyT  relat  on 
to  physical  processes.  According  to  its  doctriies 
every  department  of  physical  ar.d  -noral  nature  is  3ie 
complete  complement  of  itself,  is  sel^contaTned  in 
every  way,  and  possesses  its  own  inherent  powers  if 
progress^^recuperation,  and  perpetuation.  ^ 
,om^  f^u'  ^"  *^**  !?^  •'«"  «*'d  in  its  favour,  by  ' 
we  finSVha't  Jif  P^°(°""<^ /^inkers  of  modern  thnes^ 
we  find  that  the  doctrine  of  evolution,  when  loeicallv 

science,  and  still  remains  a  theory  and  nothing  more 

exiSere'o?th:rD"P- '•  ^"°"";  satisfactorily^?  the 
Sof  for  ^hl  •  ?^"""!  P.^'*  of  us,  the  immortal  soul, 
m^^/  tS  fi°"^'"  ^"^  development  of  the  haman 
mind.  The  first  genesis  of  that  mind,  and  the  d?wn 
of  Its  first  confused  and  shapeless  mental  feeHng  are 


EVOLUTION  AND  REUGION.  59 

teT^  ,•>"<»  J'^'xiy  made  con'sidei  pro  J^' 

£f™r'wt'J."■.t^f«TS?*td^L''t;l=! 

question  naturally  arises    wheJ  !i^^*  *u  "*  ^f  ^  *^® 
come  from?    R .  f    ®"*«s,  where  did  the  molecules 

ba^k!  and"Lke  wkS^r''"^  *^t'  T  ^^  ^till  farther 

that  'these  variLrdaffeToY  IV'T  ^"'"P?^"' 

cxisis,  as  a  nrst  cause,  there  ran  K»  ««  -         j 


V: 


t         ! 


60    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

the  theoretical  vagaries  of  evolution,  as  they  profess 
to  account  for  a  condition  of  things  which,  after  all, 
stands  beyond  their  powers  of  explanation. 

The  molecule,  or  its  kindred  atomic,  theory,  the 
dermer  ressort  of  the  sceptical  modern  evolutionist, 
IS  not  by  any  means  altogether  a  new  idea.    Numer- 
ous ancient    writers  have  discussed  the  problems 
underlying  the  theory  of  evolution.    Such  questions 
as  the  origin  of  the  world,  the  production  of  organic 
bemgs,  of  conscious  minds,  and  the  objects  of  the 
various  phases  of  creation,  have,  from  the  dawn  of 
speculative  ideas,  occupied  men's  thoughts.    In  many 
cases  the  answers  to  these  questions  imply  a  recogni- 
tion of  gradual  evolution.     In  Persian  mythology  the 
gods  Hormuzd  and  Ahriman,  representing  the  prin- 
ciples of  good   and  evil,  evolve  themselves  out  of 
original  matter.     In  Egyptian  mythology  we  find  the 
story  of  the  cosmic  egg,  out  of  which  issues  the  god 
Phta  who  creates  the  world.    In  Hindoo  mythology 
Brahma  is  described  as  the  eternal  self-existent  being, 
who  makes  hi;i  introductory  bow  to  the  world  by 
condensing  liimself  into  the  elements  of  ether,  fire, 
water,  and  earth.     Early  Greek  physicists  sought  to 
eliminate  the  idea  of  Divine  interference  with  the 
world,  by  representing  its  origin  and  changes  as  a 
natural  process,  just  like  our  modern   LyelJs  and 
Darwins.    Anaximander,  a  physical  philosopher  of 
Ionia,  who    flourished    in  the  sixth    century  B.C., 
maintained  that  the  first  principle  of  things  was  an 
endless  unlimited  mass  of  organic  matter,  subject 
neither  to  old  age  nor  decay,  and  perpetually  yield- 
ing fresh  materials  for  the  series  of  beings  which 
issued  from  it.    It  embraced  everything,  and  directed 
the  movement  of  things  by  which  there  grew  up  a 
host  of  shapes  and  differences.    Out  of  the  vague 
and  limitiess  body  there  sprung  a  central  mass  —  this 
earth  of  ours,  poised  equidistant  from  surrounding 
orbs  of  fire,  which  had  originally  clung  to  it,  like  the 
bark  around  the  tree,  until  their  continuity  was  se- 


EVOLUTION  AND  RELIGION.  6i 

firc-filed  bubbles  of  air.  Man.  himself,  and  the  lower 
animal  world  had  come  mto  being  by  similar  trans- 
mutations.   Mankind  was  supposed  by  Anaximan- 

„f«K  Ki       'P""""^  ^f?""  '°'"*^  °^^"  SP«C''"  of  animals, 
probably  aquatic.    Here  is  a  system  of  heathen  philos- 
ophy, nearly  twenty-five  hundred  years  old,  embody- 
ing no  small  part  of  the  cardinal  ideas  propounded  by 
Darwin  and  other  modern  evolutionists.    Democritus. 
one  of  the  Greek  founders  of  the  atomic  theory,  was 
the  contemporary  of  Socrates  in  the  fifth  century 
B.  C.    His  materialistic  explanation  of  the  origin  of 
the  universe,  as  then  put  forth  by  Grecian  belief,  re- 
tained for  a  long  period  of  time  the  most  prominent 
place  m  philosophical  thought.    According  to  De- 
mocntus  all  that  exists  is  vacuum  and  atoms.    The 
atoms  are  the  ultimate  material  of  all  things  includ- 
ing spirit    They  are  uncaused,  and  have  existed 
from  eternity,  and  are  constantly  in  motion.    This 
motion,  like    the    atoms   themselves,    was    eternal. 
There  IS  an  innate  necessity  by  which  similar  atoms 
come  together.    Democritus  was  classed  among  the 
more  extreme  sceptics  of  antiquity.     He  rejected  all 
the  popular  mythologies,  and  denied  that  the  crea- 
tion of  the  world  was  in  any  way  due  to  reason. 
Change  his  atoms  into  the  molecules  of  Spencer, 
which  are  identical  in  character,  and  we  at  once  per- 
ceive how  much  the  philosophy  of  the  English  biolo- 
gist rested  on  the  teachings   of  his   remote  Greek 
predecessor.     Epicurus,  the  founder    in   the  fourth 
century  B.C.   of  the  Epicurean  school   of  philoso- 
phy, of  which  we  hear  a  good  deal  in  the   New 
Testament,  adopted  the  views  of  Democritus.   and 
made  them  the  basis  of  a  new  system  of  his  own. 
He  repudiated  all  Divine  interference  with  the  order 
of  nature,  declared  that  the  gods  were  merely  parts 
of  Its  products,  and  that  pleasure  is  the  true  end  of 
man  s  existence.    His  fundamental  postulates  were 
atoms  and  void.    We  must  believe,  according  to  him. 


62     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 
that  space  is  infinite,  and  that  there  i.  .«  iir    -.  u. 
multitude  of  indestructible.  indilislweaS  ]&'*!*" 

^tllki  ""•'  ''yP°«'>«>i»  that  siacc  the  world 

uian  s  macnine,  it  might  be  more  eully  accoui»«l 
for  by  aprot^  of  generation  than  anict  of  ertaSS^ 
Later  on  he  develops  the  materialUtirli^  of  & 

t'h^n"e J' i3ea°'„f 'Sri"""  """""•    yoltaire°inSced 
in    180Q    that  If  fkl  *p'^"*'^*;  Lamarck,  contended, 


EVOLUTION  AND  RELIGION.         63 
t'h.Vvet'i^l'SijfiS^'^'*'  j^-*  *"  ^o""«  of  life 

to  thedevelopmentXho.^orMni*'^!:  ^''^l')'/"*'* 
nine  alone  the  icMhorl;- \1  ^  ^  *  **"'  ■  '>«'"d  run- 
deeper  into  Sie  water  VtH^^'t"^  'f^'^''  ^"P*^'  «"<» 
gradually  adapt  S,d""n''»^  S»  leg» 

.ituationUnd^icorw  ^  ?lf/„'?"'f.'".°f  '^' 
on  the  other  hand  arl,.^H^«^\i.      u"*^*""'"*  Cuvier, 
■pedes;  and  in  .udd?^  of  I*^'  ■'^'"**  fixity  of  al 
vSd  the  £3iS  :f?£°se,  which^had^  ^'■°"!'^f  ^°" 
by  the  ancientEgynUan,  anrf  2  *'*i*^«n  emBalmed 
that  these  did  nS^S"   jn  ?l,l  7*^  ^^  ^o^Parison. 
the  «ime  birds   hat  vSt  th.v'i    i^^*"'  ^*S'**  ^'«'" 
Ics  to  «iy  that 'S'L^'thlt^^^^^        V  "•=^'- 
while,  at  the  samo  ♦.•«,-  u         .      .°*  *"*  argument, 
truth  of  the  gr?aTfact^n'JS  ^"!?**  to  establish  the 
mal  life  is%^st  Ae  slme  ?n  fn'  "^^^  !i"  "»*'"«  '"i- 
when  it  first  cam*  fr« ™M    <orm  and  substance,  as 

and  that  iJ  an?malsThich'£f"^'  °^  *•?'  ^'^*»°'J 
world  progressed  in  it,  .«      **L*'"*  *^''"<=»'  as  the 

produ/edp?  Sr;\r;v^'^^^^Hrfl;^a^7tht 
^W  '""^J*?  *°  *^*  '^-^^  immutablelaw  ^' 

inT{;:rm?n':,.?,l^!,%^-^^^^^^^^^ 

primlUve  world  and  tn  ff*^®^^*^  *"«  'ost  history  of  a 

originaiiyrv;'d^rd'r:rupr^^^^^^ 

c1Xe7cXn^dtl'j/!^/^^^^^ 
the  past  pSatS  th.  Jl  ^"^  *°  i'^  *^  ^«"  from 
of  th^e  natfonTof  anti?u^^^  '^'  mythology 

case  as  reeards  anr2ni  V        '*  '^*.'  especially  the 
contempo^ty  natio^^^^^  YJ^i^h  led  all  the 

philosophy :  and  whn«A  •   !•  '^°'''**  '"  speculative 

satiableSit  ofenau^^^^^  "'°^"*^  ^y  ^"  '"- 

investigatii^  one  mlTJr.  curiosity  were  constantly 
nature.^  sfLCL^eU?^  or  another  in  physical 
the  Athenians  and  st  an":^^^*^^'-  '^^  *^^*  «" 
t^oie  in  nothing  else  b^e-iS  tl  tlJ^oTtor^s^ 


a 


SI 


fit 

i. . 


n 


1:1 


64     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

r« J  ♦£.'"'•  1^*"."*  **'""»"'  diwoverie.  in  science, 
the  m W Jfr^?^*'  '"«'y  discuMions,  at  Umet.  abou 

or  another,  had  so  excited  many  people's  minds  in 
England  and  elsewhere.  independeVof  th^natuVL" 
desire  to  learn  something  afiout  the  past,  that  they 
were  in  much  the  same  condition  of  cSrioiity  L  the 
ancient  Athenians.  It  i,  no  wonder,  theref2^e"th« 
Lyell^  "  Antiquity  of  Man,"  and  Darwin's  "  Descent  of 
Man.   awoke  a  profound  feeling  of  interest  among  a 

IdfntiSrd^S^L**^  '••^'"/  P"'^"*-  AlthoughTecInt 
S  of  *?  °T^'  *"**  •"°''«  "*»"«d  and  clearer 
Ideas  of  thmgs.  have  greatly  weakened  the  force  of 

mfluence  m  the  world  of  speculative    philosophy 

hJ™  t5*<=t»°«»  «f  g«°'°gy'  a»  well  as  of  archseology, 
tive  n??h.^r*  ^'T^  *^**"*  ^•^'^  tJ^'  Mosaic  narri- 
man's  aJv.n?'""^'^^  ^ccojding  to  that  narrative 
man  s  advent  upon  the  earth  was  the  last  of  God's 
d^nr^nf*??'  According  to  science  there  is  no  evi- 
dence  of  his  presence  on  earth  before  the  Tertiary 
or  more  recent  rock-formation,  period;  while  numcr' 
ous  fossil  remains  of  testacea  and  mammalia  have  been 
found  in  clays  and  rocks  of  a  much  older  period!  Fbr 
u^^W'  V"  **?f  M'°<=5"«  sandstone  beds  of  Switzer- 
H^??;  **'«/?s«l  remains  of  apes  and  monkeys  were 
discovered  m  1 837.    "The  early  progenitors  of  man^ 

hTr  boS:'"'  ""'"?  have  been^onle  covered^kh 
hair,   both  sexes    having  beards:    their   ears  were 

fhHr  h^H-P^'"*"*^'  ""'^  "P**^'^  °f  movement,  and 
their  bodies  were  provided  with  a  tail  having  the 
proper   muscles Our    progenitors,   no   doubt 

ZVrlrt°'?\  •",  *^"''"  \^^^'  ^"d  frequented  some 

warm  forest  land At  a  still  earlier  period  the 

progenitors  of  man  must  have  been  aquatic  in  their 

ronS  f '"°''PJ^2'°^yP'^'"'y*'^"s  us,  that  our  lungs 
L  a  flor/  '  ?l^^'fi^d/^vim-bladder.  which  once  served 
as  a  float.     Man  is  descended  from  some  less  highly 


hi 


EVOLUTION  AND  REUGION.  65 

In  »ub8tance."  Fof  m«       South  Amenca,  and  says 
He  adm  ts,  however,  that  many  of  his  viem  .rShS 

ra-'tiiaa^^^^rS'"'^"''''^'"'^^^^^ 

clearly  proved  ?hat  whl/v'.'\'"**"''^  ^^'^  "'o^* 

latter's  deg^radedDaminL   '***'•"''  *!  ^,  P'"°°^°^  the 

it  was  statfd  that  «?eS  re"f!i;;    f  ^7  ^""^  ''^o 
with  a  tail  j,Ji  k  "*''j?**"  remains  of  a  human  beinp 

ja:a,"a^\'ki''"i''rs:r  tco?r'i  '°^°'J 

world  of  .nodern  sceptical  scienMB„7li:'   '•    "" 
tally,  and  no,  of  a  hn„,an  beTg"  nX^'^Z 

5 


el 
m 

I 


I 


66     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

mut"r"oil^^*"  connecting  tail  is  still  deficient;  and  so 
must  continue  to  be  regarded  as  more  a  mktter  of 
ridicule  than  of  serious  consideration.    The  anatomist 
tells  us  that  there  is  little  real  similarity  be^eenhe 
physical  structure  of  the  man  and  the  gorilla     In 
the  first  place,  the  gorilla  has  four  legs,  and  unde? 
normal  conditions  invariably  uses  them  for  all  pur- 
poses of  locomotion ;    unless  when,  like  the  bear, 
he  occasionally  stands  erect  for  purposes  of  aS 
or  defence.      In   fact  he   resembles^man  in  a  less 
degree  than  other  species  of  the  monkey  family     In 
the  general  proportion  of  the  body  and  the  limbs 
there  is  a  marked  .difference  between  the  gorilla  and 
the  man  which  at  once  strikes  the  eye.     The  gorilla's 

shorter'  T"^  """"i^"''  ^  f™""^  ^^'^^''  ^^  lowfr  hmbs 
those  of  I  mi2''''Tr'!fi°"S''"  •"  proportion  than 
tnose  of  a  man.    The  differences  between  the  skull 

IJnf^T  ?"^  *!?"'  °f.^  ""^^  *re  immense  In  the 
honil  ^^/^'^  ^"'""^^  '^""g^'y  ^y  the  massive  jaw! 
bones,  predominates  over  the  brain-case  or  cranium 

r^ev'  rJn   ^l"  *"""  '^''^  Proportions  are  altogeS 
rev  -rsed.     In  man,  continues  the  anatomist,  the  occip- 
ital foramen,  through  which  passes  the  spinal  cold 
IS  paced  just  behind  the  centre  of  the  base  of  the 

nos  :  J^'?  ''  '\"'  "^""^y  '^^'^"^^^d  in  the  erect 
posture;  whereas  the  gorilla,  which  goes  literally  on 
all-fours,  and  whose   skull   is  inclined  forward,  °n 

ther°'bacT  T\i^'  P°''^°"'  ^^  '^'  ^^^amen  far- 
ther back.    In  the  man  the  surface  of  the  skull  is 

on^f  f  H?'^  ''"°°?.'.  ""^  ^^  brow-ridges  pro^cJ 
only  a  litt  e  way;  while  in  the  gorilla  these  rid Jes 
overhang  the  cavernous  orbits  life  penthouse    offe 
th».  nf .;?    *^  *""^TJ"  °^  ^^^  gorilla  is  far  less  than 
iarel^  ^^ '"'"•     ^he  smallest  adult  human  cranium 
rarely  measures  less  than  sixty-three  cubic   inche? 
while  the  largest  gorilla  cranium^ver  measured  had  ^ 
capacity  of  only  thirty-four  and  a  half  cuWc  inches 
The  larger  proportional  size  of  the  facial  bonis  and 
the  great  projection  of  the  jaws,  give  the  goriHa's 


EVOLUTION  AND  REUGION.  (,, 

assigning  man  his  okre  in  «of  -^"V  "  '*  "» 

guinie^betweenthe;an!S;:?'r^^^^^^^^ 

ties     Thl  1.  ^'^  *^,'^"  ""^"tal  faculties  or  activi- 

mak,  of  which  fiC«ena??2^ft?'"'='i'  °'  "'^- 
d"  being  either^hS&o/1o«V™f„^*%«™in- 

-e  a  hai,.  elepS,!  .hf  Sfc^TC  h%f^ 


■      :i 


I  !    ■' 


j'    I  m 


I  i 


68     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

potamus,  the  large  Irish  elk,  the  scimitar-toothed 
tiger,  the  cave  bear,  and  a  large  hyena.    All  these 
animals  survived  until  the  first  human  period,  which 
must  be  placed  before  the  Deluge,  to  disappear  in 
that  great  catastrophe,  and  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  gigantic  fauna  of  the  American  continent.^    The 
conviction  is  therefore  forced  upon  ou  -  minds,  th  • 
the  only  animals  which  survived  the  Deluge  weic 
those  that  were  taken  into  Noah's  ark;  all  the  others, 
doomed  to  destruction,  wholly  perished  from  the  earth. 
During  the  past  century  the  quarry-man  has  dis- 
covered, in  limestO|ie  formations,  numerous  caverns, 
the  entrances  to  which  had  been  concealed  from  time 
immemorial  by  surface  drifts.     In  these  caverns  the 
skeletons  of  men  and  wild  animals  have  been  found, 
preserved   by  stalactite  formations,   one   above  the 
other.     Forty  of  these  caves  were  discovered  near 
Liege  in  Belgium,  and  the  remains  of  the  rhinoceros, 
cave-bear,    hyena,    lion,    and  other  living    species, 
showed  them  to  be  just  the  same  animals  as  they  are 
now ;  while  the  human  skulls,  found  in  those  Belgian 
caverns,   displayed  no   marked   deviation  from   the 
normal  European  type  of  the  present  day.^     Perhaps 
the  oldest  known  human  skull  is  that  which  has  been 
termed  the  Engis  skull,  found  in  a  cave  at  Engis  in 
Belgium.     With  reference  to  this  skull  Huxley  has 
candidly  admitted  that  it  may  have  belonged  to  an 
individual  of  one  of  the  existing  races  of  men      "  I 
have  a  cast  of  it,"   said  Sir  William   Dawson,  an 
eminent  Canadian  geologist,  "on  the  same  shelf  with 
the  skulls  of  some  Algonquin  Indians  from  the  ab- 
original Hochelaga,  which  preceded  Montreal,  and 
any  one  acquainted  with  cranial   characters  would 
readily  admit  that  the  ancient  Belgian  may  very  well 
have  been  an  American  Indian ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  his  head  is  not  very  dissimilar  from  that  of 
some  modern  European  races.    This  Belgian  man  is 

\  Dawson's  Story  of  the  Earth  and  Man,  p.  307 
*  Lyell's  S.  Elements  of  Geology,  p.  157. 


EVOLUTION  AND  RELIGION. 


69 


believed  to  have  lived  before  the  mammoth  and  cave- 
bear  had  passed  away,  yet  he  does  not  belong  to  an 
extinct  species  or  even  variety  of  man."^     In   the 
middle  of  the  past  century,  in  a  cave  on  the  river 
Vezere,   in   France,  of  the  same  character  as   the 
Belgian  caves,  th*-  skulls  and  other  remains  of  five 
human  beings  weit  found,  to  illustrate  the  men  of 
some  very  remote,  if  not  antediluvian,  period.  Among 
these  remains  were  discovered  outline  drawings,  on 
bone  and  ivory,  of  the  mammoth,  elephant,  reindeer, 
horse,  ox,  fish  of  different  kinds,  flowers,  ornamental 
patterns,  and  the  human  form.     Some  of  these  draw- 
ings  exhibit  considerable  artistic    skill,    and   show 
that  in  intellectual  aptitude  the  palaeolithic  men  of, 
what  is  termed  by  archaeologists,  the  reindeer  or  ice 
period  of  central  France,  were  in  no  degree  inferior 
to  the  average  Frenchman  of  the  present  day.     "  The 
alluvial  and  marine  deposits,"  continues  Lyell,  "of 
the  palaeolithic  or  remote  age,  the  earliest  period  to 
which  any  vestiges  of  man  have  as  yet  been  traced, 
belong  to  a  time  when  the  physical  geography  of 
Europe  differed  in  a  marked  degree  from  that  now 
prevailing.     In  the  neolithic  or  later  period,  the  val- 
leys and  rivers  coincided  almost  entirely  with  those 
by  which  the  drainage  of  land   is  now  effected." » 
During  the  past  centuiy,  discoveries  have  been  made 
which  present  the  ancient  man  in  a  new  light  —  as  a 
religious  being.     The  French  archaeologist,  Lartet, 
has  described  to  us  his  explorations  in  a  sepulchral 
cave  of  Aurignac,  in  which  human  skeletons  believed 
to  belong  to  the  post-glacial  period,  were  associated 
with  remains  of  fire  and  funeral  feasts,  with  provi- 
sions laid  up  for  the  use  of  the  dead,  and  with  indi- 
cations of  careful  burial.    "  If  we  have  here  before  us," 
Lyell  remarks,  "  at  the  northern  base  of  the  Pyrenees, 
a  sepulchral  vault,  with  skeletons  of  human  beings, 
consigned  by  friends  and  relatives  to  their  last  resting 

*  The  Earth  and  Man,  p.  357. 

*  Lyell's  S.  Elements  of  Geology,  p.  150. 


70 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


'if  fi 


&  7f  Irer'n^at"'  a'^d'"  P^^  o^the  tomb,  the 
viands  destined  fo?'he  use  0?'*?'"^'*  '"^'."t'^n^  of 
way  to  a  land  of  smrite  wMu  *"  departed  on  their 
are""  weapons  whereS  Tn  i.h^'^^i'L'^^  funeral  gifts 
gigantic^^deer!  the  caU-lioi  .h^"'*^"'  \^^^^  '^"^ 
woolly  rhinoceros  L we  hav«'«.f    <=«ve-bear,    and 

trine  orevoi:>?s%ttranl"  *'''  ^'^P*^^'  '"^^  <^- 
It  first  grew  up  ?n  the  Zh«  ^"It^"'  ^  '"°'^""  °"*'- 
physicists  who^imeHectS^dkH^^'^  ^""•""*  ^^^^'^ 
polytheistic  fables  of  eSh,^^^^^^^^  *?  ^'""P*  t^*' 
origin  of  things-  anri  =       u5  "lytl^olog'es  as  to  the 

the  degraded^gods  anS"loHr^'"^'  ^T  ^  ^^''^^  '" 
pantheSns.  i„  fure  scepS"''?,*'^  '^l  ^*^««^«n 
lutionist  has  revereed  th««         J-^""  '"°^*^"  ^vo- 
by  being  a  sceotranH  »ff  *=°nd,tions.     He  begins 
lutionistf  in  ord?^"hat  L  mrvT^^^"°'""^  ^"  ^^°- 
ually  discredit  the  RJht      7  ^  *'?'^  *°  "^O''^  affect- 
threshes  ouT\heo^e^tc^:^f^^^^^^^^  «« 
way,  in  search  of  some  fart!      '        ^''^'■>'  Possible 
sustain  his  cond?Jon  '^f  iSlie/  'uTf^J'"*^'  *^ 
ern  agnostic's  creed    early   Greek  ^hi      ^^u  T^" 
but  a  scanty  previous  literature  to  hfw'^P^^  ^^^ 
It  might  have  learm.^  !!    i5  r*°  °"''**  ^"ew  upon, 
and  liter  Hebrew  Xfstr'Sf^'^'"  '^^  PentateSch. 
theism,  and  ent  Sy  dS'  °L^  ?"«•«  ^"d  exalted 

theistic  systems^  bu  the  oW  rr^^""'"''^"'  P^'^' 
evidently  little  or  no  tnli  ^  9"^^^^  ^"'^fs  had 
turned  fns  ead  to^e  I^^"^^  r  °^  '^^'  ^'^*°'y'  ^"^ 
Egyptian  hterat^Je.  Afte?  the  ^"SJ"'"'  °^  ^  ^^^"^^ 
literature,  which   mark/^.u^^  ^?'*^^"  ^''^  of  Jewish 

Solomon;  thai  hteTaTu're  thenceS  h°^  ""'^J'  ^"^ 
divided   race,    sundereH    K,f  f  5     "  belonged  to  a 

'LycU's  Antiquity  Of  Man,  p.  192. 


rt    - 


EVOLUTION  AND  RELIGION.  j, 

idolatiy,  by  famine,  by  pestilence  hv  A- 
by  repeated  successful  inv^fon,  of ^h-*  *'*'°''*^'  *"«* 
surrounding  heathen  nat"oS     A?l    E^  ^^^t^^  ^y 
which  Solomon  had  accum.'.i.f.;    ?«.vast  wealth 
reign  of  forty  yeara  wlf  S?   ?'''  5"""^  his  long 

during  the  refg,r:rhi3::^a"?:u'cc^^^^^^^^^ 

Kmg  of  Egypt;  and  in<stM^^f  •  ?  '^'  ^^  Shishak, 
great  expa^fof  "olintrl  f^^  r^"'"^  °^^'-  ="  the 
the  Euphrates.  JewrsS  w  *\^  "';^'"  °^  %>'?*  ^ 
hn    ^  of  Palestine     anH  J    ^fu"  ^^''^kto  the  narrow 

own.  The  pEopre^s  o7".n^^^^^^  '  •  •r"'''^'>'  ^^'^  '*« 
the  world  nS  lonSi  mad/n^^.^^  ^^'^^'^''"^  "^«°"«  °f 
to  hear  the  wisd^om  Tf1ts^^f:'3rf?J*°  Jerusalem 
agam  became  the  centre  of  iff?.  !^'  babylonia 
as  of  political  authoritl  and  hTi7  ^^'^''/^  ^  ^e" 
Israel  descended  into  the  ,.!£n  ^^\  °^  J"^*^^  «"d 
tributary  vassals  ti  either  F^°I*^'"**!  P°''*'°"  °f 
finally  the  surviving  lud/anS^^  or  Assyria;  until 
blotted  out  bvNeSLh^Mn      '"^"^fhy  was  entirely 

people  in  thfs  unhappy    ^nTnec?'  ^^'^'^^  ^'^ 
condition,  would  natSSlv  S?  ,?!fessanly  despised, 

surrounding  and  more  nrncn      ^'"'^  '.^^^^t  ^fter  by 

the  Septufgi^f  tTanTlaS'Tt^rSw  T^'V^"^^ 
became  the  key  which  on^n^^  w  t  ,.  Testament 
the  outside  worid  anJ  fSf-  ?  "^^''^^  h'terature  to 
soon  began  trpermeaterri;u"\"f  °^  ?^'  ^'^^rature 
The  geoloSTcord?  !f  ^  philosophical  thought, 
duce  us^to  pStive  '.  „k\'"°^^'""  science  intro- 
information  «  to  JisT/^^"*S»ye  "«,  "o  distinct 

Things.  The  ^^oW^rSl^^L?; ^^L^^I^^^^' 
gap  by  presenting  us  with  vaH^...  "  ^  •  ""  "P  ^^^ 
of  nebuls,  of  at?ms    of  m«, ''''^*"i^^*'^e  theories 

animals  wi'th  LhbTadders  an  J^^^^^^^^^        ^'l^  "^^""^ 
tors  of  man.     It   s  almo«f      ^,*^*  monkey  ances- 

these  theories  have  nofT    !l-f '^'/  *°  ^^^  that  all 

hind  themlack  eve--  «      ^.^  '°''*^  P'^^*"  ^e- 

evidence,"ci[ruLTaSar^^^^^^^^^ 

required  to  substantiate  *\ll^    VV-^.^  ^°"1«J   be 


iU, 


U'' 


I      \ 


I.     ! 


i  H 


n    t 


72     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

unworthy  of  any  serious  consideration  on  the  part  of 
thinking  men  and  women.    When  viewed   from  a 
common-sense  standpoint,  the  evolutionist's  doctrine 
can  only  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  strangest  phe- 
nomena of  that  morbid  humanity,  which  has  its  root 
m  agnosticism.    It  seeks  to  revolutionise  the  relig- 
lous  beliefs  of  the  world.    The  hypothesis  of  an  evo- 
lution of  the  Cosmos  directly  opposes  the  principle 
of  the  creation  of  the  world  by  God.    Just  as  the 
biological  doctrine  of  the  transmutation  of  species  is 
opposed  to  that  of  special  creation,  so  the  idea  of 
evolution,  as  applied  to  the  formation  of  the  world  as 
a  whole,  is  opposed  tb  that  of  a  direct  creative  volition 
or  wilL     It  substitutes,  within  the  ground  which  it 
covers  the  idea  of  a  natural  and  necessary  process 
for  that  of  an  arbitrary  volitional  process.! 

Jfi    S-^*?*^  °^  evolution  indicates,  as  regards  sci- 
entific thinkers,  a  tendency  to  undermine  the  whole 
structure  of  society.    With  one  class  of  persons  it 
constitutes  a  sort  of  moral  creed,  which  they  accept 
fxri  ^"^'*'*"t«  fo*"  a  more  exalted  religious  belief. 
!i  Jl  l"°f^l'''  ^""i  ™"^^  ^^'S^''  <=Jass.  the  theory  is 
gladly  hailed  as  affording  a  welcome  deliverance  from 
all  scruples  of  conscience,  and  all  fears  of  a  here- 
atter     Regarded  from  a  scientific  standpoint  evolu- 
tion degrades  man  from  the  exalted  rank  of  a  being 
created  m  the  image  of  God,  to  the  descendant  of  a 
series  of  inferior,  and  even  brutish,  animals,  whose  end 
IS  unknown.    According  to  the  doctrines  of  evolution 
there  exists  no  good  cause  for  the  beginning  of  this 
world,  and  no  definite  purpose  for  its  end.    The  evo- 
lutionist declines  to  regard  the  universe  as  the  result 
of  a  consummate  creative  plan -of  infinite  wisdom 
and  goodness  — and  approaches  inanimate  nature  as 

n.3.  ;  ^^'^  ^  ""^^"^  °^  ^^"^"  '•°<^'^«;  a«d  animate 
nature,  as  a  purposeless  production  of  animal  exist- 
ence It  leaves  us  no  middle  ground  to  stand  upon. 
It  wUl  not  permit  us  even  to  assume  that  God  created 

»  Ency.  Brit,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  752. 


II'. 


EVOLUTION  AND  RELIGION.  73 

lis  ItlT'' '"  *  partly  unfinished  condition,  and  then 
tLJ^  be  completed  by  the  processes  of  evolution" 
Jnen^l.  1''^'*'*  '°S'*=  °^  •*'  S^^^t"'  aP°stl«.  Herbert 
th^e  Cr/J"''"."^  .^'■°"'?''  ^°^  **'*'  supposition  that 
the  Creator  apphed  its  principles  in  a  secondaiy  way 

ditio^  ?"^''*  *^"*  t"  ^'i  '^^  •"  *"  "mperfeTt  coJ: 
dition  To  sum  up  the  whole  case;  the  theory  of 
evo  ution.  earned  out  to  its  logical  conclusion,  wholly 
noS'nf^K'^*'  knowledge  of  a  Creator,  ;nd  t£ 
possibihty  of  h,s  work.    We  have,  therefore,  to  choose 

.WtS  'a^r^he^!;^*^'"  °^""  *^'"^^  •"  heaven  and 
in  earth,  and  the  theory  of  evolution  —  between  a 

world  governed  by  a  Supreme  Being,  and  a  worid  in 
ch'ance      "         °'"''  '*''°''  "^'^^''^""^  ^^  accTdent  ir 

^r^JrtlU-^^^i  ***  ^'^  •"  *  P°''*'°"  *°  «tate.  that  a 
great  reaction  has  commenced,  as  regards  the  glitter- 
Jts^H^n.r'^"."''^^^^'.'^' °^^P*^^"J«t'^«=  science?  in  all 
Ind  th^^t^P^l-''  ''°*  '?  ^"eland  and  this  country; 
and  that  thinking  people  now  decline  to  accept  opinl 
ZZf^  mere  statements,  which  have  neither  proof  nor 
sound  inductive  reason  behind  them.     The  reign  of 

thT.S.f^'r"'**'''!  "^i!*^"^^  ^'  propounded  by  agnostic 
thought  appears  to  be  at  last  drawing  to  a  close.  It 
has  done  much  harm  to  revealed  religion,  and  to  the 
world  generally  of  higher  thought;  bu  truth  and 
righteousness  will  be  sure  to  prevail' in  the  end.  and 
a  condition  of  things  that  looked  as  if  about  to  ter- 

closT  A<f  r.  T''^y'  ^'"  ^^  ^'^''Sht  to  a  final 
nV^:  As  the  writer  is  engaged  in  finishing  the  last 
pages  of  this  chapter  he  clips  from  a  daily  paper  the 
following  paragraph  which  shows  that  the  second 
sober  thought  of  the  English  people  has  at  length 
begun  to  wmnow  the  genuine  grains  of  wheat  from 
the  false  scientific  chaff  with  which  they  have  so  long 
been  surrounded : —  ^ 

^J.m'^T  ^*"*''1_^^^3.  1903. -The  Sun  has  the  following 
E?H  •'^^r-^"  London: -Lord  Kelvin,  the  distS^ 
guished  scientist,  m  moving  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Prof  Hens- 


;l 


74    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

low  for  his  lecture  before  the  University  CoUeae  Chriitian 
Association  demurred  to  the  professor's  Wt to? tLtS 

nied  the  creative  power.    On  the  contrary,  he  said    «5 

eJe'LrSlf hT '  *'"  '^'^^f.  ^^  ^cnTe'm.'de 
everyone  teel  that  he  was  a  miracle  in  himself     MnH*m  kj 

obgists  were  once  more  coming  to  Se  firLeS:e  of  , 

viua  principle.    They  had  been  absolutely  forced^Kence 

to  hmit  and  bel«ve  in  a  directive  power.     'WmS* 

nf  ff''"^'/,f" ^'^'"8  ?°  *•«"«*  "  to  believe  that  a  nuS 
of  atoms  falhng  together  of  their  own  accord  could  mSe^ 
crystal  sprig  of  moss  the  m.crobe  of  a  living  aSmal?    No 

a^d'mSlil'^^r''  '^'  *"^!!i"«  "''«  ***'  «venTn  miuSns 
tnrw^i    •"  °^  ?""  *=°"'*  ""a'ded,  give  us  a  beautifal 

Sith  ?i?dL  ~  "'.Sf  ^*  '"  *''°"8'»t  "d  criticism,  bS 
I^2L.  ■  ".  **  "*  •?*""'**  *°  <=o»e  to  the  conclusion  that 
science  is  not  antagonistic,  but  is  a  help,  to  religion' " 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ANCIENT  SACRED  AND  PROFANE  CHRONOLOGY. 

of"thf,!!i'°'''''*  th?  s^ence  which  treats  of  time,  and 

of  S^e  world  *"•?!;  °^  *^^""*''  ?'  '^''y  ^"^*^  >n  the  history 
of  the  world.  The  preservation  of  any  record,  however 
njde  of  the  lapse  of  time,  implies  some  knowVedge  of 
the  planetary  motions.  Before  the  art  of  writine  wL 
sooT'fad^S  accurate  recollection  of  past  transaction^ 
nr^li^  •  ""^^y  altogether,  or  was  only  partially 
E« T^t  "1  ^"'f'^^^^^S  ages,  by  traditions  more  S^ 
less  mythical.  In  the  ancient  world,  aside  from  the 
sacred  records  of  the  Pentateuch,  accessible  to  thTHe! 

e,'Z»?~P'''  *^°r'  I"*"'^'"^  J^ad  ««'ther  learned  to 
cnrZT  ^"T^tely  the  duration  of  time,  nor  to  refe? 
current  events  to  any  fixed  epoch.    Writing  was  in 

ri^L'::'?^'/?"""^'l^^°^^P^°f^"^h«t°"aLbegan 

woSs  of  H!r  JiT  '".l^^  "^?"'^  ^^y  "*''»t«<^-  The 
works  of  Herodotus,  the  eminent  Greek  writer,  who 

flourished  in  the  fifth  century  B.C..  begin  witt,  no 
fixed  epoch,  and  may  only  be  regarded  .«  eloquent 
st,rjes  without  dates;  while  his  contempora^r?  Thu- 
W^fn  no°S^H/*^  greatest  historians  that  ev2r' lived. 
S!f.  hJcf  **^"f  P°«fon-  For  these  reasons  the  pro- 
in  «1mn?^  °^  ^^"^  ^^J}y  ^S^'  of  the  world  is  involved 
^  jl^rlTvfri'?"^'^  obscurity;  and  chronology, 
as  regards  that  history,  comparatively  speaking,  is 

Se  iTr  '  °"^l"-  "?"  ^^'"«'-  ^""en^  annafs'  of 
Kome  and  Greece  have  been  irretrievably  lost.     The 

CW.Tf°^  '^^  F*""'^^  P^"'^^^  *'th  them.  A 
anr.w  ^'?\P«~'"' about  220  years  B.  c,  burned  all  the 
ancient  writings  of  his  race  he  could  lay  his  hands 


^S    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

archives      This  IU»  ^IS'^r  .*^.  ^^^  «*""'»«  'e^ple 
nine  hundJd  vis*  ^or^'h^  """"''5*'^  '"^^  «»>«"' 

The  objcurily  and  incompltteneM  of  the  ^1.,^ 


SACRED  AND  PROFANE  CHRONOLOGY.    77 

this  difficult  crmr'teiKrr'"*""***'*p««<i  *>«'<>'« 

then  variou.  write«%?en^n  I"**^.  =°'»P''ehended.  and 
to  date  fromTariraUptr^^t*'^^ 
country  the  reckoning  ^ b?riL«e«ion  J"i,°"* 

priestsjn  a  foJrti.  bv  co.^»f  \  *^'  'accession  of 

wurce  of  Kistorical  conE„^ro"e  VS'Jl  t"'' 
tosthenes  made  the  imnnr/»«*  ^^  *  '*"^"  ^'■*- 
true  plan  of  comDutinl  fi,        *  discovery,   that  the 

count  alone  b^yJarals^s'dL'^^r^  °^  *'?'=  ^«'  *° 
the  adoption  in  Europfof  ?hTr  J?U^•^•     ^^*^"  *<"^" 

the  Creation  nor  ?h!.ni'       "^  ."f'^^"  ***t«d  ^om 
have  recourse  to  t£o?^  ^^'^  V"  constrained   to 

e  several  systems  of  c    nputing  time  naturally 


I 


'I 


78     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

gave  rise  to  the  gravest  errors;  and  render  the  work 
of  the  chronologlst,  even  as  regards  the  Jewish  nation, 
a  matter  of  the  greatest  difficulty.    With  regard  to 
the  other  nations  of  antiquity,  who  had  no  consecutive 
records  such  as  the  Jews  possessed,  their  earlier  histo- 
ries are  in  a  condition  of  the  most  hopeleu  confusion 
and  mythical  uncertainty.    Considering  the  advanced 
condition  of  civilisation  attained  to  in  Egypt,  at  a 
very  remote  period,  its  history  is  of  the  most  frag- 
mentary and  uncertain  character  down  to  its  twenty- 
second  dynasty,  when  clear  light  is  first  thrown  upon 
f^l^y  contemponry  Jewish  records,  as  given  in  the 
Old  Testament.    It  '^as  hoped  that  when  the  key  to 
i!.gyptian  written  inscriptions  would  come  to  be  dis- 
covered, a  more  accurate  idea  of  its  true  history 
could  be  formed.    But  now  that  this  key  has  been 
discovered,  these  inscriptions  have  made  the  historical 
difficulty  greater  than  ever,  and  Egyptologists  have 
thrown  down  their  pens  in  despair.    Manetho  wrote 
his  histoor  of  Egypt  about  the  time  when  the  Jews 
were  high  m  favour  at  the  court  of  Ptolemy  Philadel- 
phus,  and  when  the  translation  of  the  Old  Testament, 
called  the  Septuagint,  from  its  supposed  seventy  trans- 
ators,  was  made  from  the  Hebrew  into  the  Greek 
language.    The  literature  of  an  ancient  people  was 
thus,  for  the  first  time,  made  accessible  to  the  outside 
world,    and    necessarilv  attracted    great    attention. 
Manetho  would  therefore  naturally  be  anxious  to 
establish  the  fact,  that  his  own  nation  was  a  much 
older  one.  with  still  more  ancient  records  than  the 
Jews  possessed,  and  tiius  give  it  all  the  importance 
possible  in  the  eyes  of  its  existing  Greek  rulers.    He 
gives  us  a  list  of  thirty  kingly  dynasties  which  had 
ruled  m  Egypt,  beginning  with  Dynasty  I.,  which 
according  to  him  existed  about  5004  B.  c.    But  the 
fragments  of  his  history,  which  have  come  down  to 
the  present  day,  show  that  a  large  part  of  his  state- 
ments are  alike  mythical  and  unrel  able,  and  entirely 
unsupported  by  monumental  records.    His  dynasties 


SACRED  AND  PROFANE  CHRONOLOGY.  79 

frequentiy  overlap  one  another,  never  take  account  of 
the  fact  that  at  timei  contemporary  dynasties  existed 
S/;?T'  ^•****'«'.«"'^  Upper  Egypt,  and  even  above 
the  first  cataract  in  Nubia,  and  there  is  no  sufficient 
evidence  that  several  of  his  dynasties  had  ever  any 
existence  whatever.    Herodotus  gives  a  list  of  four- 
teen  kings  who  had  reigned,  at  one  time,  in  diflferent 
parts  of  Egypt.    There  is  no  direct  accurate  proof  of 
any  kind,  circumstantial  or  positive,  as  to  the  periods 
when  the  several  dynasties  ruled  in  Egypt  until  the 
twenty-second  dynasty,  when  Jeroboam  fled  into  that 
frSlT'u*'?'*  »?"8ht»heltcr  with  its  king,  Shishonkl., 
the  bhishak  of  i  Aings  xi.  40,  in  order  to  escape  the 
wrath  of  Solomon.    According  to  Biblical  chronology 
that  event  took  place  975  years  B.  c. ;  while  Mariette, 
following  Manetho,  places  it  at  980  years  B.  c;  and 
the  German  Lepsius,  another  celebrated  Eeyptoloeist. 
lives  the  date  at  961  years  B.  c.    From  the  reigS  of 
bhishak  onwards,  contemporary  history  throws  much 
light  on  that  of  Egypt,  and  enables  us  to  judge  with 
more  certamrjr  when  important  events  occurred  there. 
From  these  facts  it  will  readily  be  seen,  that  before 
dynasty  XXII.  no  accurate  dates  can  be  assigned,  as 
regards  the  death  periods  of  mummified  bodies,  or  of 
other  archaological  discoveries  made  in  Egypt  in 
modern  times,  and  that  there  is  positively  no  sufficient 
authority  in  existence  to  lead  us  to  believe  that  these 
discoveries  belong  to  a  very  remote  period  long  ante- 
dating Biblical  history,    this  view  of  the  case  has 
recently  received  strong  corroboration  in  news  de- 
spatches from  Paris,  dated  April  3rd,   1903,  to  the 
t,anadian  and  New  York  newspapers.    From  these 
despatches  we  learn  that,  in  recent  years,  what  is 
known  as  artistic  forgery  has  become  a  prosperous 
industry  at  various  centres  of  continental  Europe. 
Not  only  have  copies  of  the  pictures  o'the  Old  Masters 
been  numerously  made,  and  palmed  off  upon  pur- 
chasers as  originals,  but  hundreds  of  Pharaonic  mum- 
mies and  bronzes  have  also  been  manufactured  in 


I) 


III 


80    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

Paris  and  elsewhere;  sent  to  Egypt  to  be  there  bur.VH 
.n  some  of  the  ancient  tombs  ;?nd  to  be  subseaue^Hv 
discovered  by  some  modern  antiquarian      Thev  we« 

S?Wh  'Te'>*°Th""P^'  ^-"^.^''^  t:"om?rus:;m 
at  a  ftigh  price.i     The  mscriptions  on  some  of  these 

mummies,  to  which  the  appearance  of  treaf  TJ^a 
been  given  with  the  mosfconsummatf  7k  II  ^fed  to 
the  supposition  that  they  belonged  to  a  vey  remote 
penod  far  antedating  all  previous  discoverSs  onhe 
same  kmd.  As  might  be  expected  the  discove  y  of 
these  very  ancient  mummies  was  hailed  with  a  chorus 
of  de hght  by  all  the  realm  of  agnosticism  as  present 
In?  r'L°-!-^^^''''i"^'  evidence  to  discredit  the  B?ble 
and  Chr.st.an.ty  by  establishing  the  fact  .f  Se  Seat 
antiquity  of  the  human  race.  ^  -i  me  great 

Professor  Lepsius   declines  to  accept   Manetho's 
statement,  as  to  the  founding  of  the  firs/lPV,;,;?- 
dynasty  at  5004  years  b  r    f „^     i  1  ^gXPfan 

at  ^8q2r  r  ^Ti-fl-  ;•  *"^  P'^*=^s  tJ^e  interval 

at  3892  B.  c,  a  difference  of  no  less  than  11 12  years 
But  when  we  come  to  examine  the  question  in  ?he 
light    of   recent   archaeological    discovery     we   1- 

orutTus'^fsro^r'^"  ?'^  ^^^"  the'Jomp^L": 
R  rrif^fi     K     i°°r  '?"^  ^^  several   centuries.     Dr 
R  V  {,*5^  ^^^^  ""^  *^«  Egyptian  department  in  the 
British   Museum,  puts  the   reign  of  Menes    who  is 

^hTr?^^'"P*"^  ^'  '^^  fiSt  king  of  Egypt   a 
about  3000  years  B.C.;"  R.  S.  Pool,  head   of  the 
Numismatic  department  in  the  same  great  institution 
puts  the  date  at  2717  years  B.  c.  f»  whire  Sh-  G.' 

an  irtfcle  manufactured  a    a  cost  of  feii  tTan*".'  '"  i^"""^""  **°"*' 
a  stone's  throw  of  his  own  home  "  *  *="*  ^'^^^  *''»'*'» 

:  ,^?yP'  from  the  Earliest  Times,  p.  21. 
Dictionary  of  tlie  Bible,  Vol.  I.  p.  j^. 


;r 


SACRED  AND  PROFANE  CHFONOLOGy. 

the  beginning  of  DynS  T    o?,  '  ^'  '^^^'^^ 

Thef..  ar«  ft,     V   ^^*y  ^•'  of  some  3000  years, 
tion    that  th  *^^  '*''°"Sest  grounds  for  the^supposi- 

valVoftheViL"^aftf;tf:°"PV"''.^.'^  ^^"'^^  -  ^he 
Babel,  in  the  Snd  of  SM^  confounding  of  speech  at 
hke  all  Vhi^fit  •        ^.  "**■•  "'^'■«  a  civilised  people 

Egyptians  derived  their  kno'ledT.f'^u^'^"?  ^^^ 
astronomy.a    ArchSoS    Huf      .^"thmetic  and 

years,  in  various  Tarte  of  n-K'"'^'  '"  '^^^""^ 
show  that  the  civStion  o?  l^i?'?  ^"^  ^^^y"^' 
especially,  was  older  thrneve„  tJat  ofETvnt'°"?'^r 
a  much  more  advanced  charL;/.  •     Egypt  and  of 

educational  directions  as  wefl^  ie/ardf "'  T^ 
liberty.     It  is  almnsf  Lt!ii       .        regards  popular 

archaeologists  Hke  sLrJ •    1  "'  *°  '^y*  ^'^^^  "ep«cal 

gists.  are^now-XrXayl  oTSe" ^.TT.  ^S- ^'°'°- 
the  Old  Testament  n,r«?^     -    *"^  ^'^'■^  *°  discredit 
and  to  trace  aTcord.wTir-  '".-^''^'^  P^^'^le  way. 
period   antedating  1  "^'^^h?'""  ll^^^T^^^^  '^^^^'^  *°  « 
ogist  has  a  prSnd  weakness  7nSt'°^'"'.?^P*°'- 
and.  as  a  rule  doe^Zt^    -l.     ^^  ^^'"^  direction; 
fact;  or  inductive  nronfl  .    K*f  ^  ^  '"°'"*^"t  *«  colou; 
the  case     For  examnll  *°  ''°'''^'"  "P  ^'«  «>^n  ^ide  of 
several  borhigs  wer7mkdrK  ^^"Jy-fi^e  X^rs  ago. 
the  Delta  of «L:"S^-„V;hf  ^k  ^St^^^el^ 

6 


n 


I  '  > 


82     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

below,  and  at  a  depth  of  forty  feet  fragments  of 
burned  brick  and  pottery  were  found.     Taking  the 
average  thin  deposit  left  annually  in  the  Nile  valley, 
by  the  overflow  of  the  river,  as  his  basis  of  calculation, 
the  professor  next  proceeds  to  figure  out  how  long  a 
period  the  accumulation  of  forty  feet  would  take,  and 
his  answer  was  i3,cxx)  years.     His  conclusion  was  at 
once  accepted  by  Lyell  and  Lubbock,  and  various 
papers  were  read  before  learned  societies  in  England 
maintaining  that  the  art  of  making  brick  and  pottery 
in  Egypt  dated  from  12,000  to  60,000  years  back. 
Unfortunately  for  all  this  fine  speculation  Sir  Robert 
Stephenson  subsequently  found   in  the  Delta,  near 
Damietta,  at  a  greater  depth  than  forty  feet,  a  brick 
bearing  the  stamp  of  Mehemet  AH,  who  ruled  in 
Egypt  for  the  larger  part  of  the  first  half  of  the  past 
century.     Horner  calculated  that  the  rate  of  deposit 
of  Nile  mud  in  the  Delta,  at  a  given  point,  would  be 
three  and  one-half  inches  in  a  century,  but  the  de- 
scription c!  the  same  locality,  given  by  a  Moham- 
medan writer  six  centuries  before,  showed  that  the 
mud  is  there  deposited  at  the  rate  of  eighteen  inches 
m  one  hundred  years.»    Pieces  of  stamped  brick,  with 
the  Grecian  honeysuckle  of  the  time  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  have  been  found  at  a  depth  of  forty  feet.' 

Every  person  at  all  acquainted  with  geology  must 
know,  that  the  lodgments  of  all  river  accumulations, 
at  the  point  where  they  meet  the  sea,  are  invariably 
many  times  greater  than  at  any  point  higher  up 
stream.  This  would  especially  be  the  case  in  a  river 
like  the  Nile  which  passes  so  largely  through  tropical 
regions,  and  whose  waters  therefore  become  warm 
and  light  as  they  flow  downwards.  No  sooner,  accord- 
ingly, would  the  Nile  water  meet  the  heavier  and 
colder  sa,t  water  than  it  would  be  lifted  up,  and  float 
on  the  surface  of  the  latter;  when  the  mud  and  sand 
that  it  carried  with  it  would  at  once  sink  to  the 

I  Nuthall's  Recent  Origin  of  Man,  p.  474. 
*  Truth  of  the  Bible  (SavUle),  p.  26. 


SACRED  AND  PROFANE  CHRONOLOGY.  83 
m»H«T'  e  ^''•^"^stance  which  accounts  for  thefor- 

numerous  populous/citiS^r^Tned'  intrr  Sue" 
and  their  refuse  could  not  fail  to  add  largely  to  the 
deposus  at  its  mouths;   and  bricks  and Ther  har5 

rf'?hTtofrmud"°n';'  'Y"  "^>^*°  '^'^<^^'o^ 
Quarter  of  In  '  K  ^""^^  ^^^^^  circumstances  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  a  year  would  be  a  low  comouta 

tionfor  the  annual  accumulation  of  mud  and  sand" 
and  drainage,  deposits  in  the  Delta  of  the  Nile  and 
m  3000  years  this  would  only  make  a  tStal  ie^th  of 
02  feet  6  inches  and  in  2000  vearQ  at  &»*  b  •  1! 
Which  would  place  the  fi^b^rlS^m^^i^^*  i^  1%'^^ 
near  the  time  of  Abraham.     After  the  Delude  aXJ 

artSdaMak^r ?i'°"  °'  *^^  numerous  ctfi:  a"d 
crrrenf  nJi  Z*?'"*^^  '*°"Se  of  the  Nile  flood,  the 
water  a  rluXV''^'  "^"^*  ^^^^  ^^^ri^d  down  to   ide- 

rifd  aftemari/^'xS"""*'?'  °^  '""^  «"^  «^"d  than 
It  Qia  atterwards.     The  subsequent  settling  down  of 

untr'^uT^  *^''°"Sh  the   softer  matter^ presents 
hJu    f  .*^^  Circumstances  of  the  case,  no  correct 
laSs     ExcaVr;  "'•'"''*'"^  '^'  '^'  of  ihe  accumu. 
DaJaSvelv  ri    ^^'^  !"  recent  years  have  found  com- 

Sarte  o?  th^S"  ^^n'"'  '"^  °*"'-  ^'''^^''' '"  different 
^rface^airsS^  ''  considerable  depths  below 

shi^e^of^m  '""'^  ^"'/'J*'  ^Syptian  literature,  in  the 
J^^^f    monumental  inscriptions  and  papyri,  has 
come  down  to  us.  it  has  sadly  disappointed  exoecta 
tion      So  unsatisfactory  is  this  liteVature  thatThas 
not  given  us  the  connected  history  of  a  singk  Eevo 

camp";f„"'  "¥h'"  'T"'^'^'^  ^^^°-*  ofTstgfe'JS 
campaign.  The  religious  documents  are  evin  still 
more  unsabsfactory  and  fragmentaiy.i  When  we 
come  to  examine  the  histories  of  othe7ancient  Pa  J^ 
nations,  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  what  hghf^h'v 
may  possibly  throw  on  the  early  condition  of  Egypj; 
>  Ency.  Brit.,  Vol,  VII.  p.  721. 


it 
I 


r* 


i  i 


,ii  i 


84     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

unsurmountable  chronological  difficulties  everywhere 
make  their  appearance.    At  the  same  time  their  own 
prehistoric  periods  are  all  alike  involved  in  mythical 
fable  and  uncertainty.     The  Greeks  even  formed  no 
exception  to  this  rule.     They  could  only  date  their 
authentic  history  from  the  first  Olympiad,  so  called 
from  the  Olympic  games  which  took  place  every  four 
years,  and  which  were  said  to  have  been  mainly 
founded   by  Lycurgus,   the  Spartan  law-giver,  jy6 
years  B.  c.     But  the  Olympiads  did  not  come  into 
actual  use  as  a  measure  of  time  until  about  the  third 
century  B.  c.  when  the  Athenian  Timaus,  in  an  elabo- 
;  ate  history  of  Sicily,  set  the  first  example  of  reckon- 
ing by  them.     Rome  was  founded  753  years  B.C., 
but  it  is  not  known  at  what  time  the  Romans  com- 
menced to  use  their  era.     In  the  history  of  Baby- 
lonia the  reign  of  Nabonassar,  which  began  747  b.  c, 
was  the  first  fixed  epoch  from  which  time  was  reck- 
oned.    It  will  be  seen  that  these  three  eras  all  arose 
m  the  eighth  century  B.  c.  and  at  too  late  a  period  to 
assist,  in  any  way,  in  unravelling  the  tangled  skein  of 
the  chronologies  of  the  more  ancient  nations  of  the 
Pagan  world. 

In  numbering  years  from  any  definite  epoch  the 
figures  are  necessarily  always  on  the  increase.    While 
nations  still  remain  in  their  ruder  and  more  illiterate 
condition  they  usually  fail  to  attach  any  definite  idea 
to  larger  numbers.     The   practice   accordingly  very 
generally  prevailed,  in  remote  ages,  of  measuring  time 
by  cycles  or  periods,  consisting  of  a  moderate  term  of 
years ;  and  to  distinguish  one  year  from  another  by 
Its  place  in  the  cycle.     The  Saros  cycle  of  the  Baby- 
lonians,  the  Olympiads  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  Indic- 
tions  of  the  Romans,  are  ancient  instances  of  this 
mode  of  reckoning  time.     Among  the  Babylonians 
longer  and   shorter  cycles  were  in  use  for  separate 
purposes,  a  practice  which  has  led  to  much  confusion 
and  uncertainty  in   deciphering  their  older  records. 
According  to  one  of  these  cycles,  Berosus  makes  the 


SACRED  AND  PROFANE  CHRONOLOGY.    85 

reigns  of  the  ten  kings,  whom  he  states  to  have  existed 
between  the  Creation  and  the  Flood,  to  have  laste  J  for 
the  fabulous  period  of  432.000  years.  If  hs  figures 
were  based  on  the  shorter,  or  what  wa  known  2 
the  civil  cycle  the  period  would  be  2221  yeare  or 
nearly  the  same  as  that  given  in   the  SeSint 

the  Gr'eat  and  h^^  ■"'%  '^'  '"'^"^  °^  ^LS 
r.Li^^.•  ,  ^'^  immediate  successors,  and  dedi- 

cated his  work  to  Antiochus.  King  of  Syria  H  s 
history  IS  principally  known  throufh  the  fragment- 
ary remains  of  Polyhistor  and  ApollodorufJio 
writers  of  the  century  before  the  Christian  era!  who 

Sn„f  p'^"^"*'^  ^"°*'^  ^y  Eusebius  and  Syn- 
cellus.     Berosus   professed    to    commence  with  the 

day  A  few  n°"?1-''  ^'^  ^'^.*°'>'  ^°^"  *«  ^'^^  ^Tn 
hlnA  Jl  *l"°t3t'ons  from  it,  at  second  or  third 
hand,  and  the  bare  outlines  of  his  system  of  chm- 

Itl^i  Tv  H*"lr"  ^'-^^  ^^^l''^^"  tra'^smTtted  to  the 

Wsworks  ^  But  th'"'r  ^^°  '""^^  ^^*^^^t«  fr"*" 
nis   works.      But  the  close   connection  throughout 

tht  fh"  J"'  '^""'y  ^"^  ^^  ^>b""J  "«rrative.  sEng 
that  the  true  account,  no  doubt  given  by  Noah  to  wf 
immediate  posterity,  of  the  Creation  and  of  sub^! 
quent  events,  including  the  Deluge,  still  remained  a 
tradition  among  the  Babylonian  people,  has  always 
invested  the  little  that  we  know  of  hb  ^rUiSgs  wUh 
the  deepest  interest.  Archaological  discovery  n 
recent  years,  amid  the  ruins  of  Babylonia  and  As- 
syria, of  cuneiform  tablets,  confirming  the  narrative 

th.?7T'  '"  «f  "^  *^^*^''^'  ^^  ««"  farther  added  to 
that  feeling.     We  now  know  that  the  knowledge  of 

?rL.  K  i''"%^°u^  ^**^  ^°"S  b^«n  forgotten  by  the 
great  body  of  the  people  of  Babylonia.  EgypLnd 
other  oriental  countries  generally,  and  that  gross 
Idolatry  everywhere  prevailed.  The  true  histo?  of 
the  past  had  become  completely  obscured  by  dim 
traditions  and  mythological  fables,  very  different  jS 
their  general  character,  from  the  simple,  direct  and 
sublime  narrative  given  in  the  Pentateuch 


Ml 


i  II 


!  ' 


86     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

The  history  of  Berosus  first  describes  the  chao, 
which  existed  before  the  Creation.  That  chaos  was 
presided  over  by  the  female  goddess  ThS    or 

lo?  R  f  *  •"s^'-'Pt'ons.  She  was  destroyed  by  the 
god  Belus  or  Bel,  and  then  the  gods  created  th! 
heavens  and  the  earth.  Berosus  aftenJard  til« 
the  chronology  of  the  Babylonian  kingdom  ^tufws? 

86°  kS  ^fenK^Jh'''^"  reigns  lasted  43^,000  years. 
«  MahI,!.  f'^        V°°^  ^^°^^  "^Sas  lasted  34,000  years 

8  Median  kings  whose  reigns  lasted  224  yeaS  ^ 
.  J!.*^"'""^  whose  reigns  lasted  (about)»  248  years 
49  Chaldean  kings  whosfc  reigns  lasted  458  ye^^ 

9  Arabian  kings  whose  reigns  lasted  245  yeC^ 
45  other  kings  whose  reigns  lasted  526  yearsr 

After  these  reigned  Pnl.  '      ' 

(The  remainder  of  tho.  chronological  table  has  been  lost) 

of "^Se  ^odT  But  If'"'*'"^  ^y  ^*^'°^"^  ^  th«  work 

the  most  mythical  character,  although  harmoiisini 

Nni*'  FfT^*  ^"^'"^^^  ^'th  the  Mofairn^rS 
Not  until  about  2000  years  B.  c.  does  h  s  WstoJv  S 
all  ascend  out  of  the  region  of  mere   rnJ^lt   ^ 

Kim  for  458  years,  then  commenced.  These  Idnoi 
appear  to  correspond  with  a  famous  line  of  so^reS? 

region  were  built  during  their  dominion.     One  of  the 
earlier  monarchs  of  this  period  bore  the  name  of 

probably  correct.  ^     "'*  '****  ^"^  »  '  which  is  most 


SACRED  AND  PROFANE  CHRONOLOGY.    87 

^'^'Pu,  '•  ,."5  ^*'  *  celebrated  ruler,  who  was  most 
probably  the  founder  of  the  new  dynasty  of  Chal- 

th^H'^fT'  S^  ^""  ^'*°'y  "  '^Jated  similar  to 
that  of  Moses.  He  is  said  to  have  been  concealed 
by  his  mother  m  an  ark  made  of  rushes  and  bitumen, 
which  was  sent  floating  on  the  river  Euphrates.     This 

ffrtl^V'^-  °^  ^i^^^^*"  '"'^  terminated  with  the 
ArahLn  ^T^^^  ^'"^  ?<■  ^''^'  ^y  Hammurabi,  an 
Arabian  chief,  who  established  a  new  dynasty  about 

Ab?u/?«^°-'''  ^"^  """?  Babylon  his  capital 
About    1800    years  BC.  the  Kassites  and   Assyr- 

^Z  *^°"*5"^''jd^  Babylon,  expelled  the  last  Arab 
monarch,  and  founded  a  new  dynasty  which  ac- 
cording to  Berosus,  lasted  526  year?  The  next 
important  epoch  in  Babylonian  history  is  that  of 
Nabonassar,  which  commenced  74;  years  B.  c  From 
his  time  onwards  the  history  of  Babylon  presentH 
constant  series  of  conquests  by  the  Assyrians  and 
revo  ts  against  them   Sy  the  Babylom'ar     Nabo 

governor  of  Babylon  by  the  King  of  Assyria.  He 
subsequently  rebelled  against  his  master,  and  with 
the  aid  of  the  Medes  defeated  the  Assj^r."  -.  a 
hTnJ^l^l^Ku"^  eventually  captured  Ninevc.  .nd 
tZT\  *°  **'*'  S'^""^-  O"  th^  death  of  Nabopo- 
n^UfJ^'  succeeded  by  his  son  Nebuchadn«/ar. 
one  of  the  greatest  kings  of  ancient  history,  whose 
reign  is  recorded  at  length  by  Berosus.  Bu7BrbHca! 
history,  both  in  the  books  of  Kings  and  DanS 
gives  us  a  still  better  knowledge  of  that  monarch 

lorunHlThr  '^'  -b-<l-nt  -volutio^ll  TtBaby: 
Ion.  until  the  capture  of  that  city  by  Cyrus  5^0  vears 

belw/en  *he^  a"'""?  "''  ?"?•*«  th^  bittt'r^iSy 
between  *he  Assyrians  and  Babylonians  they  were 

of'cun^-  ^  °^  *^  •  •'""'"  °"S'"'  "«ed  the  same  sysl^eL 
of  cuneiform  wri  mg.  and  spoke  the  same  langua^? 

the  SS,"fiv'''1r\^'' "\'°"°'°g'^^'  t»ble  thafaf?'; 
the  forty-five  other  kings  had  reigned  came  Pul  who 
was  better  known  in  history  as  Tiglath  PHessir!!'    He 


Hi 


III- 


■  h 

Hi 


I  ; 


88    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

ZvriInV?n  °'?  '^'"'^'*'  *^y"^*y'  *"d  ascended  the 
Assyrian  throne  745  years  B.  c.   If  we  add  these  figures 
to  the  458  years  for  the  reigns  of  the  forty  nine  cS 
dean  kings  245  years  for  the  nine  Arabian  Ss  and 
526  years  for  the  forty-five  other  kings.  S  given 
by   Berosus    we  have  a  total  of  1974  years  bc 
bnng.ng  us  back  to  the  Sargonic  period.  Tu?in  ihe 
oLi/I  "T^  archsological  discoveries  we  feeldis! 
posed  to  place  the  commencement  of  the  reien  of 
Sargon  I  at  2400  years  B.  c.  or  about  200  yew!  be 
fore  the  birth  of  Abraham  (2211  years  bTw?  th^ 
?i' '!?  ftr.^^  Babylonian^istor^     /t  fs  a's^ingdar 
fact  that  the  histories^of  all  the  ancient  nations  of  the 
world,  uicluding  China  and  India,  commence  about 
or  shortiy  after  this  period,  beyond  wh^h  unless  hi 
the  smgle  instance  of  Biblical  history  alone  we  have 
only  mere  tradition  or  total  myth.     George  Smith  and 
Srsit^^o7bXrl"'°;  °'  Assyriolog/in^Te  Un t 
oSS^wer?botI>  ;Sl°'^  •  "•'■  ""T  "'"•"*^"*  Assyriol- 
h;cf«r.v^f  °^^^  opmion  that  no  contemporary 

years  B.  c.  and  Lenormant,  an  eminent  French  anti- 

SmeTrX^  fi  •  ^f *'"  '""r  °P'"'°"-^  Allow^g  ampJe 
mTn/^hj?  fi  '*^^f  °^  *"^^'  of  national  dlvelop^ 
ment.  this  would  at  the  most  carry  Babylonian  exist^ 
ence  to  a  date  commencing  about  300?  veLrs  B  r  i 

thtSrSZteYh'"^^^^''^^^^ 

betw^n  SJn  ^  «*^°«"\hereafter)  that  the  true  period 

?c^  ve»«  ^"l^  ^""^  *^'  Christian  era  was  about 
3500  years,  or  perhaps  a  century  more,  and  not  2^78 
years  as  estimated  by  Archbishop  Usher.  We  mayif 
cordingly  place  the  mythical  portion  of  the  S^  of 

xwanetho;  and  regard  both  alike,  from  a  historical 

C  a?e'tt  fi  ""^°'"^>^  ?'  ^"^  ^^"°"«  considers 
Nor  are  the  figures  supplied  by  the  modern  sceptical 

p.  M*"'*''  ^»''y'«>"'».  P  54.    Lenormant'8  Ori-ntal  Hi.tonr.  Vol.  II. 
«  Ceikie's  From  Creatio.,  to  Patriarchs,  p.  125. 


SACRED  AND  PROFANE  CHRONOLOGY.    89 
chronologist  as  regards  the  r-eh-stcric  a^es   a  wl,.> 

n";ro"precVel'"  ^'^  -ythf  of  Bei^LTnS  of  Ma! 
«?  ?  "^  Pj-ecisely  as  in  the  case  of  so  many  professors 

t^J'^'l^  '"^"'^''  ^•^  ^^  «"  *g"°»tic  before  he  b" 
2S«  ^^°'?°'°g!?t ;  and  was.  therefore,  always  most 
anxious  to  discredit  the  Bible  and  Christianitv    Tv 

all^th^f/rfiT'^  ^'/f  y  *^  °"'  """'ts  will  permit 
all  that  can  be  learned  by  non-professional  readVrs 
from  profane  chronological  teachings,  it  now  remafns 
for  us  to  examine  the  Biblical  side  o   "ronoToey 

oi^ Slh^'f '"  *"  ^.ty  ''^'''  *^t  the  marSs  Jf 
our  Eng  ish  reference  Bibles  contain  a  series  of  chro- 
nological  notes,  systematically  arranged.  These  noSs 
are  frequently  termed  the  "  Receivfd  Chronofo^  " 

o?1h?B?b!:t'.^  -any  readers  as  an  inTeg?fe 
01  the  Bible  Itself.  It  is  important  therefore  to  the 
Bibhca  student,  to  have  a  clear  idea  of  thdr  oriSn 
and  value.  Their  origin  was  the  result  of  thelab^ 
a°"kk^u^  •'^'/^"^  calculations  of  Dr.  James  ulhe^ 
Archbishop  of  Armagh,  in  Ireland,  who  wTborn  in 
Je  parish  of  St.  Nicholas.  Dublin,  in  Janua^!^58o  and 
died  on  the  20th  March.  1656.    Two  yeare  befo?;  hU 

which'fi  p",'".^^!f  ^•^  '''''^'^  °f  BiS?hrot,rog; 

which  firmly  held  its  ground  for  over  two  centurS 
^d  until  finally  disproved  by  arch^ologTcal  discovi 
rhrnnJl  '^^    T'  ^^^  °^  ^^  ?»«*  Century       His 
werrfenclulf?'^'^  '°T  '^'^^'  '"odifi^cation 
LInvH  «•  i       '!:^l'"  the  authorized  version  byDr 
if  thf  R^Ki  °^  of  Worcester,  in  the  sumptuous  editS 

ArShui  ^'^^"^^  ^y  ^^^*  P''^'**^  ^'  the  instance  of 
Archbishop  Tenison.  and  published  in  1701.  These 
notes,  accordingly,  possessed  for  a  long  period  of 
^"e'thlm  di"*^.°"*^  which  general  acc^^taSce  could 
?ecenf  F„'  iT*^  Occasional  adverse  criticism  by  more 
recent  English  and  German  scholars.  Biblical  stu- 
dents have  always  found  them  exceedingly  useful    and 


I 


1 1 

I" 


|:!    H 


•fVf 


1 


90    THE  SUPREMACY   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

for  the  purposes  of  comparison  with  other  chrono- 
logical systems,  they  are  still  of  much  value.    The 
Archbishop  s  dates  are  largely  based  upon  the  Bibli- 
cal genealogies,  of  which  the  book  of  the  generations 
of  Adam  found  in  chapter  v.  of  Genesis  is  the  earli- 
est,  and  which  affords  us  an  interesting  glimpse  of  the 
antediluvian  world.    The  chronolog>'  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament may  be  divided  into  six  principal  periods: 
(I)  From  Adam  to  the  Deluge ;  (2)  From  the  Deluge 
to  Abraham  s  entrance  into  Canaan ;  (3)  From  the 
date  of  Abraham's  immigration  to  the  Exodus  from 
Egypt;  (4)  From  the  Exodus  to  the  Hebrew  mon- 
archy; (5)  From  the  commencement  of  the  monarchy 
to  Its  fall;  (6)  From  the  fau  of  the  monarchy  to  the 
advent  of  Christ,  the  destn-.ttiun  of  Jerusalem,  and 
the  final  dispersion  of  the  Jewish  nation.    The  dates 
(some  only  approximately)  of  these  several  periods, 
according  to  Usher's  chronology,  are  shown  in  the 
following  table :  — 


TABLE  A. 

Pxriod. 

DatM  B.  c. 

Duration  in 
jrran. 

I  Adam  to  Deluge 

3  Deluge  to  Abraham     .... 

3  Abraham  to  Exodus    .... 

4  Exodus  to  Saul 

K  Duration  of  Hebrew  Momirchy 
6  Fall  of  Jerusalem     ..... 

4004-2348 
2348-1921 
1921-1491 
I49i-«09S 

'°25-  587 

S87-End 
Total  years 

1656 
427 

587 

4004 

The  chronological  elements  on  which  both  Jews 
and  Christians  founded  their  computations  for  de- 
termining the  era  of  the  creation  of  the  world,  were 
derived  from  the  Old  Testament  narratives,  which 
have  been  transmitted  to  us  through  three  distinct 
channels.  The  first  of  these  is  the  Hebrew  text  of 
gie  Scriptures ;  the  second,  the  Samaritan  text  of  the 
Pentateuch;  and  the  third,  the  Greek  version  known 


SACRED  AND  PROFANE  CHRONOLOGY.  91 

as  the  Scptuagint    From  a  chronological  standpoint 
the  three  accounts  are  wholly  irreconcilable  with  each 
other ;  and  no  conclusive  reason  can  be  given  for  pre- 
ferring any  one  of  them  to  another.    We  have  no 
concurrent  testimony  with  which  to  compare  them ; 
nor  IS  It  even  known  which  of  them  was  regarded 
as  most  probable  by  the  Jews  themselves.    The  ordi- 
nary  rules  of  probability  cannot  be  applied  to  a  state 
of  things  in  which  the  duration  of  human  life  extended 
to  nearly  a  thousand  years.    From  computations, 
therefore,  founded  on  loose  and  conflicting  data,  it 
would  be  vain  to  look  for  accurate  knowledge,  or  even 
concord  of  opinion.  Des  Vignoles,  in  the  preface  to  his 
Chronology  of  Sacred  History,"  asserts  that  he  col- 
lected upwards  of  two  hundred  different  calculations 
u  *^*J<:"6*n  of  the  period  between  the  Creation  and 
the  Christian  era;  the  shortest  of  which  was  348? 
years,  and  the  longest  6984.*    The  Rev.  Dr.  Green 
says:  "that  from  the  uncertainties  connected  with 
every  period  except  the  last  in  table  A,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  assign  the  true  date,  even  approximately,  of 
man  s  appearance  upon  the  earth  from  the  Jewish 
computation  (the  shortest)  of  3483  years  before  the 
Christian  era,  to  the  estimate  made,  by  direction  of 
Alphonso,  King  of  Castile,  of  6984  years.     It  is  plain 
from  such  comparison,  that  the  problem  is  insoluble."  » 
Under  these  circumstances  we  are  compelled  to  reject 
a  considerable  part  of  Usher's  chronology,  and  to 
form  our  conclusions  on  other  testimony.    As  regards 
the  first  period  in  table  A,  various  interesting  ques- 
tions have  been  raised,  by  physiologists  and  others, 
touching  the  great  longevity  of  the  human  race  before 
and  after  the  Deluge;  but  the  very  best  authority  on 
this  point  IS  the  sacred  narn.tive  itself;  and,  in  any 
case,  its  settlement  in  no  way  bears  upon  the  order  of 
succession.     The  following  table  (B)  gives  a  com- 
parative view  of  the  successive  generations  as  set  forth 

»  Ency.  Brit.,  Vol.  V.  p.  713. 

■  Ilustrated  Bible  Treasury,  p.  167- 


1  . 
t 


;1        ' 


I 


93     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

Sri-n*^?  ^^^'i?''  '*.'**'.  *i«  •»«te'n«t  of  the  Jewish 
historian  Josephus  included.  The  estimate.  It  will 
be  seen,  is  formed  by  adding  together  the  duration 

Th!  H»2*^  r*Vu  "V«'^*  "^ly"'  *'^«'  *e  Creation. 

TABLE  B. 
AoB  OF  BiKTH  or  Eldest  Son. 


Adam 
S«th 
Eno*  . 
Caiiuui    . 
MahaUlacl 
Tared 
Enoch 
Mathutalah 

Lamech 

Noah  to  Deluge  . 

Total  years  to  Deluge 


mi..  S.Y  -^  ^^  comparative  value  of  these  esti- 
hrtw  K^  •»  • "  *,  P'wu^Ption  «n  favour  of  the  He- 
U  n;.r"*  'V.'  *>n'y  ^P'ew'nption.  and  the  conclusion 
FatC  r^'^'^'/T/J^"-  ^he  eminent  Christian! 
Father  Clement,  of  Alexandria,  who  flourished  in  the 
earher  part  of  the  third  century,  a.  D  and  eave 
fTom^A5'"^°°  ?  this  subject.  st2es  that  the  pe?k^J 

four  days,  a  computation  much  nearer  to  the  Septua- 
gint  than  to  the  Hebrew.     The  apocrjmh^  g,ok 

oL  nf'?K  *^''^  !?  ^"Pr  ''^  *°  date  fro^Se  Ster 
part  of  the  second  century  b.  c,  speaks  of  Enock?s 
i6sth  year  as  die  1286th  of  the  wSrid.  which  table 
A  shows  to  agree  with  the  Septuagint    External  tes^ 


SACRED  AND  PROFANE  CHRONOLOGY.    93 
tlmony,  to  far  u  we  have  It,  appears  to  favour  the 

l^SVh^'fc"'***'*"?-    J^ P**"'  »l«o  agree*  ve,y  closel^ 
miS A  Septuagint ;  but  the  fact  that  he  harfalready 

S^lcVn.  ♦k"*'!**  '°"r«u.''  "*'■'"«»«  of  the  same  period. 

w  ■'"'  °^  •*''  testimony.' 

whirh  .«k  *=°'"i*°  **>«  »econd  period  of  table  A. 
J^ch  embraces  the  second  genealogy  in  Genesis,  the 

n^V/„?'  «?"Vu  *'°."'  °f  Shem,  as  given  in  chapter 
».,  extendmg  to  Uie  time  of  the  entrance  of  Abrafam 
mto  Canaan.  The  chronological  annals  of  this 
period  were  they  satisfactorily  established  would  be 
r^^^"'^?  '"t^re'ting  and  important  of  the  scries, 
compnsmg  as  they  do  the  re-peopling  of  the  worid 
?rLi?"T?u°^  ^^^  "**'°"»'  and*^th?  founding  and 
£hS«n-  °^  ?*l.8'~t  *ncient  empires  of  Assyria, 

A^^hir  Sil"*  ^/??*'  ^^  "  r*^"  •"  Genesis  x!^i, 
As5  hur,  Babel,  and  Mizraim.    The  following  table  (C) 

of  Jii'nJl"°''l'"r.°  the  different  authorities  the  ages 
of  the  patriarchs  belonging  to  the  second  period:  — 


TABLE  C. 


An. 


Shem  after  the  Deluce  . 
Arphaxad    ...    7 

a*"'.  :  :  •  •  • 

Heber     .    .    .    .    '    ' 

PelM 

Reu 

Seruff .... 
Nthor      ...."■ 

Terah 

Abraham's  entrance  into 
land  of  Canaan .    . 


Htbnw. 


Scptufint 
orLML 


2 

35 

3° 
34 
30 
3' 
30 
29 
130 

7; 


3 
>3S 

IJO 

130 
>34 

IJO 

'3a 
'30 
'79 

IJO 


Sunuitao. 


4*7 


_2i_ 
1307 


«3S 

130 
'34 
'30 
13a 
130 
79 
130 


JOHpbtM. 


13 

111 
130 

'34 
'30 
'30 
133 

130 

'30 

75 


1077 


1128 


table '^til'/l*"'"  ^^  "?*''=*^^'  *^=*'  >"  the  foregoing 
table,  the  discrepancy  between  the  different  author- 

'  Antiquities,  i.  and  3.  VIII.  3  and  i.  X.  8  »nd  5. 


ifl 


Ij 

1 

i 

1 

'  1 

l™I 

i  *i 


11  i 


94     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE, 
ities    is   very  great.    We  have  now  arrived  at  th«. 

Youna',  H  ^  T '^"    '"'^    P^«'^"    inscriptions,   and 
Youngs  decipherment  of  Egyptian  hieroelvohical 
wrj^ng.  have  opened  new  and  wide  fielis  of  S 
edge,  as  regards  chronology  and  histerv  thi  «    u 
of  which  have  thrown  a  flo?d  of  liX  u?;,f^thr.n  ^ 
djtion  of  the  oriental  world  at  4e  ^tSLeTf  Atlham 
H.S  appearance  supplies  what  was  hitherto  WinS' 
as  regards  profane  annals,  namely,  a  definitreooch 
from  wh.ch  to  date,  and  which  makes  the  work  of 
Sff       ?•?  ?T°'°e«'  '"finitely   more  awuwte 
But  outside  the  little  which  Herodotus  tells  us  r« 

sus,  the  only  authority  of  any  value  as  regards  the 
histoiy  of  that  countor  is  the  Old  TesSmeSt  i  It  i! 
kttS  hrof'^Sil  "'^^*°'°g-^  d^coveries.  in  Jhe 
Ssvria    irf  P^'  century,  in  Babylonia  and 

Assyria,  that  we  must  look  for  the  fuller  storv  of 
the  condition  of  the  world  when  the  Teat  S^^^ 
patriarch  appears  upon  its  stage.    The  great  dSw 

recordsVJh  '''^'''  ''^^''^  '«'  that.  likraS  o^; 
records  of  the  remote  ancient  worid.  thev  are  storill 

TX'Zll  r  •''  "•  """"fy  -P-^^theS 
ascertain  Jh!  .  *°5'^*  '"  chronological  order,  or  to 
ascertain  the  true  time  to  which  they  belong.  Thev 
dearly  reveal  however,  a  condition  of  thinM  which 

year:%ouW  ''"P^'^li^*^^*  ^  period  df?nly  i' J 
SI  »  .'^  ^^^'i  «'*Pscd  between  the  Deluge  and 

anVoTcanaa^n'^^"'^"-^*  ''''  '^'  °^  75  So  the 

sation\.ni  The  various  great  centres  of  civil- 

isation  and  population  of  that  day  had  long  before 

emerged  from  their  primal  stages  of  existence-    The 

>  Ency.  Brit.,  Vol.  III.  p.  ,84. 


SACRED  AND  PROFANE  CHRONOLOGY.    95 

SorW^'of^^'"'""''^"  ""^  ^^P.*'  ^'^•^J^  ""»t  have  been  the 
work  of  a  numerous  population,  and  some  of  its  more 
unposmg  temples,  had  already  been  constructed  ItJ 
SS'h '^  (°'r  °^  g^^^'-n'n'nt  had  long  been  es- 
tabhshed.  and  the  arts  and  sciences  had  made  con- 
siderable progress  In  Babylonia  a  similar  state  Sf 
things  very  generally  prevailed.  The  original  polit- 
ical condition  of  that  country,  as  well  as  If  Assyria 

Sn?T  T.^*''*'  ^^^  ^  «°°^  ^«a^  "ke  that  of  Pales- 
tone  at  a  later  period,  when  the  head  of  every  town 
of  any  importance  was  termed  a  king;  and  small  in- 
dependent communities  everywhere  existed,  just  as  in 
the  cases  of  Greece  and  Italy  at  a  later  period.     By 
conquest  and  affinities  of  blood,  interest,  or  a  com- 
mon language,  these  petty  kingdoms  had  been  gradu- 
nfLi!.? "*  '°*°  ^^S^"  S.''°"P^  °^  P«°P'ej  ^d  the  day 
,J^i\V^^"V  "^^^  ''^'^^'^y  ^^^'^'ng  "Pon  the  hori. 
zon  of  the  not  very  distant  future.    This  state  of 
tilings  accounts,  to  some  extent  at  least,  for  the  large 
number    of  mythical  Babylonian  kings  which  the 
existing  fragments  of  the  historical  works  of  Berosus 
supply  us  with,  and  which  presents  so  many  stum- 
bling-blocks to  some  of  our  modern  chronologists,  who 
like  to  surround  archaological  discoveries  with  the 
most  remote  antiquity  possible.    Babylonia,  in  Abra- 
ham s  day.  like  Egypt,  possessed  large  and  populous 
cities,  where  great  temples  existed,  dedicated  to  Bel 
the  moon  god,  and  other  national  deities.    These 
temples  were  not  only  the  centres  of  the  religious 
Ife  of  the  people,  but  also  of  their  civil  and  social 
life.    They  usuaUy  had  great  public  schools  attached 
to  them,  where  young  people  of  both  sexes  were 
well  educated  m  the  primary  branches,  as  well  as 
occasionally  in  the  higher  departments  of  mathemat- 
ics and  astronomy,  by  the  priests  and  their  assistants. 
Great  libraries  were  attached  to  many  of  these  tem- 

f«r  V"  "'^^-  ?,«ntfe  of  intelligence,  not  only 
for  their  own  neighbourhoods,  but  also  for  distant 
countries.    The  remains  of  the  great  library  found  in 


96     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

£US'  f  ^J^'u'PP^  (^^°"t  a  dozen  miles  from 
Babylon)  showed  that  its  temple  was  the  school  anH 

ZT'S!  "°'  r'^  ^°^  ^''^^d"'  but  alL  for  SyrS^ 
North   Mesopotamia,  and   a  large  part  of  all  Asia 

wJr i"";  ^^Sr  "^^  ^^^''^  C^«*«o«  an^d  Deluge  taWeS 
Tnd  n.^r"''  i,'^""^'  *"^,  """"^^^"^  letters  of  ^prfvate 
a  leSal  and  f ^'?'.°^?"  ''""^  of  Abraham.  ^JJom 
samf  noS?-  °*''*'  standpoint  women  occupied  th^ 
same  position  as  men,  owned  property  in  their  own 
right,  and  were  born  the  civU  equal  of  the  oSTe? 
eke"  hy"Z.i:T'''     "^'l^  P°^'*''"  --  "« ter  fo'r! 

those  who  required  their  «!#.rv.v«e  ^ti?         j        P  '°'^ 
rule,  carefully  baked  in  an  oven  constructed  fnV  Ihl 

?S  K     •       '^^'■^   bankruptcy  courts  among  them 
llrlL^^  ^"??.  P.°''^'  service,  bankers  and   broker^' 

ruorlVe^etw^^^  'r' "'-•  ^  "°'hS 

"4uurs  were  sold,  and  traders  of  everv  de«!rrinf:«n 

dynastv  of  ArT  ^^^'ng  Hammurabi,  one  of  the 
h»mw  °^'^'^?''  sovereigns  who  reigned  about  Abra- 
tZi^Z^-    '"  ^Sypt.  on  the  othef  hand  the  masses 

or  social  standpoint,  and  even  excluded  them  from 


SACRED  AND  PROFANE  CHRONOLOGy.    97 

sm'ainrcrl'r.^r,"'''  °"™-'"'  -""p  held  in 
n.-'^sZ^ls.l^^&.u^y-''  -'"eated   by 

Used  life     Th«^       '  .      °^^'^'  occupations  of  civi- 
talcenp:;se2oVoT^^^^^^^^^  f^  ^-g  before 

of  the  upper  N°?e  and  thf^^  °-  ^"'^/  ^'°"&  ^^e  waters 
of  the  hSman  fam?ly*'th^wl!ft:'^"^^^^^ 
black  and  the  yellow  races  iSn      ^a  *'°PP/'''  ^^^ 
appearance  in  the^  InnfflT  '"^^^^^  "*^^«  their 

had  also  commenced  to  «tend7ST  ^°P1!'^^'°" 
of  the  Mediterranean    and  the  ^we?^^  ''^'' 

munitiesall  over  Asia  M;n«,  dY  ^  ^^^^^^  *=om- 
had  already  attracted  cnT^  ^*'"f"«^'  especially, 
well-watered  and  feSle  f ?"  "^^""^^^  attention  as  a 

communitfes  Tad  ^^Wou^  S'tawT iT"'  ^'"*» 
An  EevDtian  clft!         '^^  j^'^hshed  themselves. 

of  its  Srn  fielrf«  fi  ^''^"  ^'^  Abraham's  day, 
it  is  n^^Sif 5,fif^;vjneyards  and  fortresses;  an^d 

vears  befrTJ  7        ?    ^"**  Hebron  was  built  seven 

of  Its  palms,  of  its  olives    in  J  «f'*       '**  ^°"^y' 
dance   of  cattle »     K^lL    •'    .u     °^  '**  S*"*^*'  ^bun- 

every  way.        "^^""^^t^^ed    and  very  fruitful    land 

But  there  is  another  point  of  view  from  which  to 

i  S^.^r^?'  *""  ?"*•  Vol.  VI.  p.  ,39, 
See  God's  promise  in  Exodus  iii.  8. 

7 


'^} 


3\ 


m 


li  I 


98     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

regard  the  utter  untenableness  of  Hebrew  chronology 
as  regards  the  period  between  the  Deluge  and  Ab?a' 
hams  arrival  in  the  land  of  Canaan.      Noah  lived 
3SO  years  after  the  Flood ;  and  if  the  Hebrew  estimate 
were  correct,  Abraham  was  born  two  years  after  his 
death,  and  would  accordingly  be  contemporary  with 
his  sons  Sheni,  Ham  and  Japhet    No  children  appear 
to  have  been  born  to  the  latter  until  after  the  Deluge, 
so  that  the  number  saved  in  the  Ark  could  only  have 
been  eight  persons,  as  stated  in  the  Mosaic  narrative 
(Genesis  viii.  16.  and  x.  17.)     Let  it  be  supposed 
that  the  posterity  of  Noah,   at  the  first,  doubled 
Itself  every  twenty-five  years  by  natural  increase,  a 
high  estimate,  at  the  end  of  four  centuries  it  would 
have  risen  to  423,908  souls.    After  that  period  the 
natural  increase  would  most  probably  only  double 
the  population  m  every  hundred  years,  so  that  if  we 
P„"J»Kl!  '"t'^'^f '  ^^ccording  to  the  Septuagint.  as  stated 
in  table  C,  until  the  Abrahamic  period  at  900  years 
or  1300  years  altogether  from  the  Deluge,  the  total 
population  of  the  world  would  then  be  206,784,896 
souls.    When  we  consider  that  the  population  of  the 
world  since  the  Deluge,  a  period  say  of  5000  years, 
only  doubled  itself  (within   a  fraction)  every  176* 
years,  our  estimate  of  the  number  of  people  on  thi 
earth  in  Abraham  s  day  must  be  very  near  the  actual 
fact.    The  length  of  man's  life  began  to  be  shortened  • 
at  once  after  the  Deluge.      Shem  lived  only  602 
years.  Abraham  died  at  the  age  of  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five,  Jacob  at  one  hundred   and  forty- 
seven,  and  his  son  Joseph  at  one  hundred  and  ten. 
JJy-and-by  the  allotted  span  of  man's  existence  became 
the  threescore  and  ten.      As  the  centuries   passed 
over  after  the  dispersion,  and  ambitious  kings  came 
to  rule  over  the  nations,  cruel  wars  frequently  arose 
which  caused  much  sacrifice  of  human  life,  and  men. 
as  in  later  times,  would  be  punished  for  their  sins  by 
famine  and  pestilence,  it  is  not  at  all  probable  that 
after  the  first  four  hundred  years  the  population  of 


SACRED  AND  PROFANE  CHRONOLOGY.    99 

dn^.K?J'?'"j*^  post-diluvian  world  would  more  than 
double  Itself  m  every  hundred  years 

There  is  still  another  point  in  favour  of  the  longer 
computation  of  time  in  table  C.  It  is  au  te  nrS?! 
that  Noah  was  originally  a  native  oVthfounVrJ^n'et 
the  Upper  Euphrates,  or  even  possibly  of  th?  fand 
of  Canaan,  and  that  shortly  after  the  D^WeLr. 

must  then  have  been  a  wonderfully  beautiful  land  of 
mountain  and  valley,  of  mingled  woods  and  oraiHe 
country,  well  watered  with  numerous  riverf  and 
kS^uAl"^?'  'T'^""'  fertility  of  which  would  Ke 
God  to^^r  fafthf"/'"''  ^"*^  ^"""'"  ••^•"^'  vouchsafed  by 
th^  n-i  S*^"'  ^^'^*"'  **v«<*  miraculously  from 

the  Deluge.     Here,  surrounded  by  every  elementTf 

ind ^,r  v'  P'-°«Pe."V.  Noah  lived  out  hi7life  har  .y 
Ste  Ws  dliir'"7  '"J'J^P'y'ng  rapidly  aroun/  ^1 
Alter  his  death,  and  owin"  to  some  cause  whi(  Ve 
Mosaic  narrative  does  not  explain,  his  descendants 
determined  to  remove   farther*^ east      CrossTng  the 

f^S?i"Pi"'^*''  f  '^^  ^°'^  °f  Carchemish.^they 
found  abundance  of  pasture  for  their  vast  flocks  S 
sheep  and  herds  of  cattle,  in  the  wide  pLTnsof  Meso- 

ani^T-    ^^/'%",?  ^°"^*'  '^^y  r«ted  for  a  time 
and  afterwards,  following  the   course  of  the  ereat 
river  they  presently  found  themselves  inapSrfe 
country  m  the  land   of  Shinar.  the  Bibylom?  of 
later  times,  destined,  in  the  providence  of  God  to  be 
a  second  time  the  cradle  of  the  human  race,  and  there 
made  their  permanent  home.     At  what  time  t^! 
great  emigration  movement  took  plaSe.U  have  no 
means  of  ascerta  ning.     There  can   be  little   doub^ 
Aat  Shem  was  still  alive,  and  possibly  his  brothers  as 
we  1  and  continued  to  teach  posterit^the  knoSge 
of  the  one  true  God,  what  they  knew  of  theCreatif n 
and  the  world  before  the  Flood,  an^  of  the  terr  ble 
manner  ,n  which  antediluvian  ma^  had  been  pun  shed 
for  his  wickedness.      Shem   lived   502   years  after 
the  Deluge;  and  there  cannot  be  the%ligEdoub 


If: 


•i  f 


t 
s 


M 


V  I 


i;ll 


\i' 


lOO    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

that,  during  his  lifetime,  the  worship  of  God  was 
religiously  observed.  It  was  after  his  death,  possibly 
fifty  or  one  hundred  years,  and  while  the  people  of 
the  whole  earth  were  still  using  one  language  and 
one  speech,  tnat  they  presumptuously  determined  to 
make  themselves  a  name,  and  to  build  themselves  a 

SS'J.n '•  TK*-"^*""'  ^f'  "^^""^  *°P  ""^y  reach  unto 
heaven.  Their  punishment  quickly  followed ;  their 
one  form  of  speech  suddenly  faded  from  their  mem- 
piy;  various  language  groups  miraculously  sprang 
into  existence,  and  each  group  formed  the  nucleus  of 

i  J'l'n''*  Pf*!P'^  ,^"*  *"  t'*"*  language  groups 
had  still  a  definite  knowledge  of  the  tne  truf  God! 
of  the  creation  of  the  %J;orld,  and  of  its  destruction  by 

r.i«^i"f 'r^  *^*^l  ?'***  ^^'=*«  "*'v«''  afterwards 
or  fori  tI"^c  KK  ^^"  'memories  in  some  shape 
or  form.  The  Sabbath,  or  seventh  day,  continued  to 
be  observed  as  a  day  of  rest  and  for  the  worship  of 
God ;  and  was  afterwards  held  sacred  even  when  the 
people  had  sunk  into  gross  idolatry.  It  was  wholly 
a  different  religious  world  from  this  that  met  Abra- 
ham s  experience,  which  we  must  place  over  two 
hundred  years  earlier  than  the  date  given  by  Usher 

1^  Fct"^P'^^*.^P?"°u^  °£^'5  years  for  the  sojourn 
«n  Egypt,  as  stated  in  the  Septuagint  and  Samaritan 
versions,  whereas  the  Hebrew  vJrsion,  as  found  in 
Exodus  xu.  20,  makes  that  period  430  years 

Much  of  the  great  wealth  of  Abraham,  after  he 
had  made,  no  doubt,  a  liberal  provision  for  his  son 
Isaac,  was  spent  in  providing  for  his  other  children 
rftn^JT/  good-natured,  easy-going  man,  who  evi- 
dently did  not  add  much  to  his  inheritance:  and  all 
Jacob  s  property  appears  to  have  mainly  consisted  of 
what  he  had  won  in  Mesopotamia  in  his  younger 
days.  His  sons  had  evidently  few  servants,  did 
their  own  work,  and  went  down  unattended  to  Egypt 
to  buy  food  for  their  families.  Nor  does  it  appear 
that  Jacob  took  either  slaves  or  servants  with  him 
when  he  went  to  his  son  Joseph. 


SACRED  AND  PROFANE  CHRONOLOGY.   ,oi 
From  the  facts  adduced  in  this  chanf^r  ♦»,-  •  r 

Abraham  to  the  Christian  era.    Ifwe  add  th^J  2? 

from  %fc  ^^  ^^*"u°^  "^^  "  Rece.v:d  ct?„olU^: 
from  the  Creation  to  the  Christian  era  we  have  a  tSli 

from  th°//'^^.-^'^*"-     ^^^"'^^"g uTh^^s, 6^6  years 

Jij:^5^sse:j^ii4^js!^r%^ 

tton  to  the  Dtlug.  we  „ould  have  to  add  fcs  1.^^ 

foKg^.'^m  K"'!*"  ""■?•"•«<>-. "  th^ 

^"*««N  THK  CtlATION  AWD  I9OO. 


Sc^tuagint 


ConstantinopoliUn 
Dionvsius  .    ,    .    . 
Eusebius    .    .    .    . 
Maximua   .    .    .    . 
Scaliger     .    .    .    . 


73"  years. 

5904 

7409 

7394 

7099 

7401 

5850 


Syncellus  .    . 
Julius  Africanua 
Pandorus  .    .    . 
Hales 


7401  years. 
7401      « 

7393      " 
731 1       ** 
Other  chronolo|ists  vary  from 

8883  to  5382  years. 


ern  nations.     Its  epoch,  or  commencemenT  -s  the 
Rome.     This  epoch  was  introduced  in  Italv  in  thi 


■i 


1i 


'  I 


102    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

century.    Before  its  adoption  the  usual  practice  in 
Latin  countries  was  to  distinguish  the  years  by  their 
places   in   the  Roman  cycle   of  Indiction.^    In  the 
Chr  itian  era  the  years  are  simply  distinguished  by 
figures,  those  before  Christ  being  marked  B.  c.  (Ante 
Christum)  and  those  after  Christ  A.  D.  (Anno  Do- 
mini).     In  the  annals  of  the  Middle  Ages  much 
uncertainty  frequently  arises  respecting  dates,  on  ac- 
count of  the  different  periods  at  which  the  new  year 
was  supposed  to  commence.    Dionysius,  the  author 
of  the  era,  adopted  the  day  of  the  Annunciation,  or 
the  25th  of  March,  as  its  commencement.    This  date 
was  adopted  in  some  of  the  Papal  bulls,  and  by  several 
of  the  Italian  states,  and  continued  to  be  used  in  Pisa 
down  to  the  year  1745.     In  France,  under  its  third 
race  of  kings,  it  was  usual  to  begin  the  year  with 
Ejwter.    Charles  IX.  eventually  issued  an  edict  in 
1663,  directing  that  the  New  Year  commence  on  the 
1st  of  January,    'n  Germany,  about  the  i  ith  century, 
It  was  usual  to  commence  the  New  Year  at  Christ- 
mas; and  this  practice  also  prevailed  in  Rome,  Milan, 
and  other  Italian  cities  in  the  13th,  14th,  and  ijth 
centuries.     In    England,  Christmas  was    also   New 
Year  s  day  from  the  7th  to  the  13th  century.    In  the 
I2th  century,  however,  Annunciation  day  began  to  be 
accepted  as  the  beginning  of  the  civil  year,  and  con- 
tinued to  be  generally  followed  until  the  reformation 
of  the  calendar  in  1752.     But  the  historical  year  was 
always  the  ist  of  January.    The  liturgical  year  of  the 
Church  of  England  commences  with  the  first  Sunday 
m  Advent.  ' 

^J*^\*^.*""°"°'°^^*^  *'"*  °*"  ***«  Armenian  Christian 
Church  is  that  of  the  Council  of  Ziben  when  it  se- 
ceded from  the  Greek  Church  on  the  9th  of  July  552. 
In  their  transactions  with  Europeans  the  Armenians 
usually  follow  the  ordinary  method  of  dating. 
The  era  in  use  among  the  Turks,  Arabs,  and  other 

ior^X^lrtlk^^  '""''"'"^  ^  Con.tantine  the  Great,  a.  d.  3.3. 


SACRED  AND  PROFANE  CHRONOLOGY.   103 

&Tm  I"  "*"°"',  '*  *•»*'  o'"  th«  Hegira,  or  the 
?^t  °f  Mohammed  from  Mecca  to  Medina  on  Ju^ 
lOth,    622    A.  D.     The    modern   Persian   era   mm 

S'""'  7'^  **>*  '^'^^^^'^'^  of  YezSeSrd"liTto  the' 
Ch?„'i;.°^*''**  country  on  the  lethoffune.ija  The 
Chinese    have    two   years,  a  lunar  and  solar  one 

IZ  -""fu  y"""  ^«ir^  ^'t^»  the  first  day  of  tha 

sT^n  ^/Ihi"  T"*  °/.^u^'*='»  '^'^  »""  enters^  into  tiie 
sign  of  the  zodiac,  which  corresponds  with  our  siim 
Pisces  The  day  is  divided  into  hours,  minutes  aS 
seconds,  as  with  us.  They  still  continue  ou?e  the 
Cycle  system  as  a  measure  for  longer  periods  of  time 


b 


>        i 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  RELIGIONS  OF  ANCIENT  EGVIT,  BABYLONIA 
AND  ASSYRIA.  ' 

deilv"wh;"S*'llJ"''  '**^*"  *°  comprehend  more 
Clearly,  why  it  became  necessary  that  God  should 
raise  up  a  people  peculikr  to  himJelf.  to  become  the 
custodians  of  his  laws  for  the  moral  and  sSJitual 

Redeemer  of  the  human  race  could  legitimately  arise 

Sfbte  "°^.*°/eview  the  religious  cf  ndS^of "he 

foSnf '''*"'  ^°'''^-.    ^»  ^«  contemplate  these 
conditions  we  can   only  corne  to  one  conclusion 

;re''^ln;''J  "2  !?'  1?*'°"''  ^'  thV  r^mo^t^pS 
tT/n„?fT° V5°"^  *"*"**'^^  fr«"  ^^  worsEip  of 
?r!JJ.v«  * '  ?°** '  •?!*•  **  f'ne  progressed,  idolatrous 
practices  took  a  stiU  firmer  hol/upon  them;  and  that 
any  prospect  of  a  religious  reformation,  and   of  a 
return  to  the  purer  faith  of  former  tim^o,  ^came 
^^LiT^u*"^  more  hopeless.    In  order  to   be  iJ 
complete  harmony  with  God's   gracious  purposes 
as  regarded  mankind,  the  new  nation  mus?  be  traced 
on  lines  entirely  distinct  from  those  already  in  ex^st- 

ot  the  term,  politically  and  re  igiously.  That  a 
condition  of  this  character  must  secure  to^  hem  great 
material  and  spiritual  advantages  was  a  fact  beyond 

made  by  him  before  the  Sanhedrim  previous  to  his 
condemnation  and  death,  forcibly  alluded  to  th  s 
fact  when  he  declared  that  Moses  had  received  the 
lively  oracles  (of  God)  to  give  unto  us.    (Acts  vii 


siii 


RELIGION  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT.      105 

i^"?*^    V  ^^'*  •dvanUge  then  hath  the  Tew  "  .o:,i 
the  Apostle  Paul,  "or  whft  profit  i.  there  of^rclm 
cwion?    Much  cveiy  way,  chiefly  bccaul  unS  SL«" 

♦h^f  ?-       ^  *"*"?  P«^«e«  of  the  New  Testament 

»n;"o?a£-:!o7g:^^^^^^  °f 

hU  -vdation.  made  from  time  t;:^,^^  llTe  p%h°' 
ets.      We   also  learn  that  the  primary  oradea  of 

wri'd'LrrTlft'h  *?  "^r  -t-tVbe'afte?- 
waras  aeitvered  to  the  Jewish  people  for  future  nri^. 

IT^^J^  'ir    ?^^  »  «"8'«  nition  of  aiZfty 
was  fitted,  either  relieiouslv  or  moraiiv  *^  u^    ^ 

toVrodt?;  ?{*»'^'-'-  o^^o^ntir  :^X: 
iTns'^'flhrwJrld.'"'^  '°  ""'^^  P~P'^»«o"  f-  t^: 

thi^ri*^!?"  P*°?'*!!  '"'^o  '»«"«v«  that  the  account  of 
ShU.  *?*'°"  T^  **  ^*^"S«'  ^hi<=h  they  find  in  Aeir 
?ommltS?".'^u  P**^  °^  ^'^  °"<='"  or  word  of  Goi 
^SSh***  '°  *^'  "="*  °^  ^^^*  for  transmission  to 
posterity,  may  veiy  reasonably  assume  that  the  Ian 
K?«8\Kroup  which  settled  dong  the  Wr  N.^" 

^^  !h:m'T""S  n  *^*  7°-^^  of  BabercaS^d 
with  them,  like  all  the  other  lancruaee  ctoum   a 

i«trefdK?or*?^""5?"^?°^-  ^^T  kSy 
was  carefully  preserved,  for  a  long  period  of  time  bv 

the  educated  priestly  class,  who  sedulously  coSed 
;ysterof^i:i;:'-°**'r**'°"  ^^^^^^  an  ^js 
5otS  posigoL'^^or^^^^^^^^  '^'""'''^  '}'""  '"*°  «» »^"'- 

X,=u4l  *k  ^.  ^  .^**t  power  and  authority  •  and 
made  them,  l.ke  the  Brahmins  of  India,  the  virtual 
of  P  ^^^'^  '°"1*^-  ^"«=th  the  popular  system 
whiSPP*'*"   mythology,  a  form  of'^belieT  exfsVed 

oln^  "^xu""*  ^^,'  •■^'"°^«d  fron*  a  pure  theistic  the- 
ology. The  real  essential  unity  of  the  Divfne  Lur^ 
was  insisted  upon,  and  carefully  taurfj     tI.  «.    ^ 

^^J^P^t  °*^  ^'"^'^  Being.'lL^'sofe  proJ^cc?  of  al 
things,  in  heaven  and  earth,  himself  not  produced  o" 


il 


1 


106    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

any;  the  only  true  God,  telf-origlnated,  who  exists 
from  the  beginning;  who  has  made  all  things  bu! 
has  not  himself  been  made.  The  laneuaee  S  Xr.oh 
to  Joseph  supplies  distinctive  eviffi  o^'hi  beiwt 

Jair'cTn  r1in;'^"K^  "^•'•°'»  "'^  unto  hlsicr" 
vants,  can  we  find  such  a  one  as  this  is.  a  man  in 

Wnh**i*  "P'"*  °/  ^°i  •''  A"<»  Pharaoh  laid  unto 
Joseph,  forasmuch  as  God  hath  showed  thee  all  this 

esis  xh.  38,  39.)    This  supreme  being  seems  never  to 

symbohc  form  whatever.  It  was  thought  that  he 
had  no  name,  and  that  even  if  he  had  a  name  it  wa! 
unlawful  to  speak  it  He  was  a  pure  spirit;  pcrfcc! 
ZT'y  «•"?*«*•  *»-«'»«.  all-mighty.  sup?emeK? 
fectly,  good.  Those  who  fully  griped  these  cSeat 
truths  understood  clearly  that  the^  m!ny  goS^  oTSl 
Ir^th^'"'^^''^  ^*"  ™"''y  P*"onified  attribute 
mL»  i,"\*I?'*u''!'^'  *"•  P*'**  °f  the  natural  el" 
S«.^''^^  *•"*  *'"*''^  J  -"^J  *at  in  worshipping 
The  .ro'Stnli^r^"'*  '*"!  ^^"hipping  that  ddty. 
minH^   P^.    P^'  ^°'  *''»'"?'!'  represented  the  creative 

mitte'r.  51  thi'  ""Kf  ^*¥'  M«"'  represented 
matter,  Ra  the  sun;  Khons  the  moon;  Khem.  the 

generative  power  in  nature;  Keith  th^  concept  ve 

power;  Nut  the  upper  hemisphere  of  heaven"  aS 

Je  lower  world  or  under  hemisphere;  Thoth  the 

oS  7i"^T'  ^'"'"""  **»'  ^'^'"^  mysteriousneS? 
Osiris  the  divine  goouuess.  No  educated  Egyptia^ 
priest,  or  even  layman,  held  that  the  popuUr  eods 

tT.7th?*'**'  r^  ^"*'"'*  heings.'  aH  these  iSoJ 
that  there  was  but  one  true  God;  and  that  all  other 
^r  !J!"'t'^}y  represented  some  of  his  forms,  aspects, 
or  attributes.  In  addition  to  this  belief  the  prieste 
taught  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  a  future  state 
01  rewards  and  punishments  for  deeds  done  in  this 

EgJpuSsTol 'VSn'»5U««'  ^»'-  ^-  5-  5»V  WilIdn.on'.  Ancient 


REUGION  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT.      107 

We.  Modern  Investigation  has  confirmed  Mosheim's 
r?H 'rni';  ^^\  '^t  Egyptians  held  the  unUy  of 
God.  but  this  unity  had  with  It  no  trinity  of  persons 
•s  some  suppose.    God  with  them  was  abwiutdy 

?Z  ?K*"**K*'!'  .'"'*  '^^*'*  ^'^'^'^^  "e  *»»  not  divided 
Into  three  but  tnto  a  multitude  oF  aspects.  The  J 
triads  of  temple  «,ds  did  not  represent  a  trinity  of 
co-equal  persons.  "But  one  of  a  superior  god  and  two 

?.?m 'n^'  '"JT'tM:*"**-  .  A  ^^'y  *"*=«"*  fitter,  dating 
from   Dynasty  IV..  and  written  on  papyrus    which 

?"  .^/*"  d«<=°7red  In  a  tomb.  In^  recen    ^e.^. 
speaks,  m  several  places,  of  one  true  God  as  if  the 
writer  recognised  no  other.    There  can  be,  therefore 
Z^:^^}^  doubt  that  the  original  religion  of  a!i 
the  EB^ptian  people  was  the  pure  theism  which  had 
SlnniT  **"  ***""?  ^~?  Noah  and  his  son, ;  anS 
2  ?„  w  ??"*•  P  n*=*'^"  ^"*  ^«*^  ^'th  »""  worship 
Sri«t?J?^'°"'*' J'"L*  *"^  «^»«*here.    Ra  was  th? 
wKSr^S      "  ^^'  '"!.'*'"  "Pec'*a»y  worshipped  at 
Hcliopohs  near  Memphis.    No  part  of  the  E^ptian's 
religion  was  so  much  developecfand  so  mulUpIex  in 
tts  aspects,  as  their  sun  worship.    Besides  Ra  and 
?nT.l^r  T""  ""^  °*i*=''  ***•»'«»•  ^ho  had  a  dh? 
of  rI^  ?„y  t' •  ^'t?"-  •  ^'*'°'''  "moreover,  the  mother 
»L^J^     ^'"'  ^^,5  '"**"■  *"**  *'f«  of  Osiris,  were 
sun  goddesses  and  bore  upon  their  heads  the  disk  of 
Ka  to  mark  their  close  connection  with  the  great 
luminary.    As  time  progressed  new  gods  and  god- 
desses were  constantly  added  to  the  Egyptian  pan- 
theon,  until  It  became  eventually  very  numerous  and 
complicated.     An  Inscription  of  Rameses  II.  speaks 
of  the  thousand  gods— the  gods   male,  the  gods 
female  —  those  which  are  of  the  land  of  Egypt.    Its 
pantheon  began  with  eight  chief  gods ;  beneath  them 
were  Jvelve  gods  of  the  second  order ;  and  then  came 

D^ii^i  VVTTT*"'""';  ^!'*'"-  "^^^  establishment  of 
Dynasty  XVIII.  and  the  restoration  of  the  line  of 
the  ancient  kings,  who  were  not  only  the  political 
rulers  of  the  country  but  also  the  head  of  its  religious 


108    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

priesthood,  gave  a  new  divinity  to  Egypt  The 
reigning  Pharaoh  presently  claimed  the  right  to 
divine  honours,  as  the  incarnation  of  the  sun  eod  Ra 
and  thus  added  greatiy  to  his  regal  influence  and 
authority.  Up  to  the  reign  of  Meneptah  I.,  of  Dynp^ty 
XIX.,  festivals  and  religious  ceremonies  were  held  in 
honour  of  the  new  god,  who  had  been  thus  added 
to  the  Egyptian  pantheon,  but  there  is  nothing  to 
show  that  the  practice  was  continued  after  the  Hebrew 
^xodus,  and  the  dire  misfortunes  which  then  befell 
the  nation. 

In  ancient  times,  said  a  text  of  the  Egyptian  myth- 
ology the  god-kings  had  dwelt  among  men,  but  had 
ceased  to  do  so  when  man  had  been  provided  with 
laws  and  rules  for  government.     From  that  time  on- 
wards the  gods  had  veiled  themselves  in  the  bodies 
of  animals,  to  watch  the  course  of  worldly  events 
without  taking  part  in  them.    In  almost  every  temple 
the  presiding  god  was  represented  by  some  animal  as 
Its  divine  incarnation  or  fetish.    These  animals  were 
consequently  regarded  as  s? .  -ed,  received  divine  wor- 
ship, were  kept  in  gorgeous  shrines,  carefully  fed  and 
nurtured  during  life,  and  at  death  were  embalmed,  and 
buried  with  great  ceremony  in  special  places  assigned 

u*t*'i"''?°^^:    ^*  "^^  *  *»'g*»  criminal  offence,  for 
which  the  death  penalty  was  inflicted,  to  kill  any  of 
these  animals;  and  even  their  injury  was  severely 
punished.^    The  sacred  animals  embraced  cows  and 
heifers,  apes,  ibises,  cats,  hawfe,  sheep,  dogs,  lions, 
crocodiles,  wolves,  jackals,  shrew-mice,  hippopotami- 
antelopes.  Ibexes,  frogs,  goats,  fish,  etc.      Many  of 
these  animals  were  only  held  sacred  in  some  particu- 
lar locality.    Each  town  was  jealous  for  the  honour 
of  Its  own  special  favourite,  and  quarrels  broke  out 
at  times,  between  city  and  city,  or  province  and  prov- 
ince, in  connection  with  their  sacred  animals.    These 
quarrels  frequently  led  to  open  and  dangerous  riots, 
or  to  permanent  smouldering  hostility,  menacing  to  the 
>  Story  of  Phanes,  Vol.  I.  p.  28. 


RELIGION  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT.      109 

public  peace     Some  of  these  animals  received  the 
most  profound  adoration  that  was  possible,  and  their 
contmuaj  unbroken  succession,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
1  ur  ?.'''  ^^.  .S*"^**   Memphis  divinity,  was   most 
watchfully  provided  for.     Whatever  might  have  been 
the  private  opm.ons  of  the  priestly  class,  as  regards 
this  adoration,  the  existing  order  of  things  greatly 
added  to  their  general  influence  and  authority  with 
the  multitude,   who  were  therefore  encouraeed   in 
every  way  to   pay  the  most  grovelling  homage  to 
their  animal  divinities.    These  were  fed  in  magnifi- 
cent temples,   had   numerous  and    splendid   priest- 
hoods, and  festivals  and  high  d  vs  were  observed  in 
their  honour.    Juvenal,  the  en  uent  Roman  satirist, 
who  flourished  m  the  earlier  part  of  the  second  cen- 
tury of  the  Christian  era,  ridicules  a  superstition  so 
gross  and  repulsive.     "  Who  knows,"  said  he,  "  what 
kind  of  omen  the  mad  Egyptian  worships  ?  One  district 
I  "^^''^^  crocodile,  another  grows  pale  before  an  ibis 
glutted  with  snakes.     The  golden  image  of  the  sacred 
ape  shines  afar.     Here  whole  towns  worship  cats : 
there  fishes  of  the  Nile;  yonder  a  dog." 

The  external  manifestation  of  religion  in  Egypt  em- 
bodied  a  ritual  at  once  splendid  in  its  general  features 
and  most  imposing  in  its  details.     In  no  country  did 
religious  ceremonial  command  greater  attention  from 
the  people  at  large.     In  every  city  and  town  magnifi- 
cent  temples,  mostly  built  of  stone,  rose  high  above 
the  surrounding  dwellings  of  the  inhabitants.    These 
temples  were  enriched  with  all  that  Egyptian  art 
could  supply  in  the  form  of  paintings  and  sculpture. 
The  image  of  the  principal  god  of  the  locality  occu- 
pied the  central  shrine,  with  minor  gods  and   god- 
desses arranged  at  either  side.     A  grand  ceremonial 
service  in  their  honour,  conducted  by  the  king  and 
chief  priests  on  great  occasions,  went  on  perpetually 
from  day  to  day.    Scores  of  priests,  with  shaven  heads 
and  clean  white  linen  garments,  crowded  the  temple 
courts  and  corridors;    long  processions  made  their 


1 1 


II 


1 10    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

resounded  without  oause  •  w  !1^*        r    '  °^  '""^'*= 
offered  in  sacrmce  o"^™  the't'-P^^^^^^^^  Eve^  T' 

"stinking  n,uffie>  ^^  L^?" co°n"te£f?'*^'  ?"" 
termed  at  times  by  th?exdus.Ve  H»«        P'"°"''y 

monv     Tlu.^!,  ^8yP*'«"s,  ceremony  followed  cert 
mony.    The  calendar  was  crowded  with  festivals  ar,H 

scended  into  the  lower\orid  •  aSdlal  the^.     '^'^ 

W  the  Sh  A^  K?"'  •  ^  P^'^^  *<=^'<^s  *ere  produced 
Ae  figufe  of  T^h^^^^^^  of  which  wi  placed 

goodSofSe'iece^^L"^ 
by  with  a  tablet  In  hfo  t     J'.   *  ^^  ^^°*  otan.'ing 
oy  wim  a  teblet  m  his  hand  to  record  the  result     Tf 
the  good  deeds  weighed  down  the  scale  fSil^^ 
^°">7^  permitted  tl  enter  the  S>at  of  the  sun  ?S5 
the  bW^'  ^\^ri  ^P'"*^>  *«  '^^  dweilinl-plc^s  of 

we%h  down  thi        .  ^°°u^  ^'"?^  ^"'^^  insSfficient  to 
weigft  down  the  scale,  the  unhappy  soul  was  sen- 

thJouiT^'^T  V^  *^'  ^^^^^  °f  ^i^  >"  Se  eJ^  to  go 
Iniml  t'^"""*  of  transmigrations  into  the  bodies  of 
oSrlf?    "^  °'  '"'  ""^'^^"'  ""«'  the  purgatoria 
purification  necessary  to  enter  heaven  was  at  lenS 


REUGION  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT,      m 

completed     If  this  degree  of  purification  could  not 
be  effected  owing  to  the  many  sins  of  the  deceased. 

Sfi?  if^  '''^u^T^^^r  .^''  '°"'  *°  absolute  annihiK 
ation.  It  was  this  behef  in  a  future  state  that  led  the 
Egyptians  to  the  preservation  of  the  dead  by  em- 
balming and  othemise.  and  to  the  religious  ser- 
vices at  the  tomb-chapels  of  the  wealthy,  londucted 
usually  by  the  immediate  relatives  of  the  deceased 
Prayers  were  addressed  to  Osiris  on  these  occasions, 
and  an  outside  inscription  or  notice  invited  all 
pas--rs-by  to  pray  for  the  welfare  of  the  soul  of  the 
departed. 

With  their  belief  in  a  future  life,  and  its  state  of  re- 
wards  and  punishments,  was  bound  up  the  Eevotians' 
care  of  dead  bodies,  and  the  elaborate  prepafS  of 

the'her.";^'-     t.f  Tf "  ^^P*^^  *°  be^ec^eived  "nto 
the  hereafter  of  the  blest,  and  after  dwelling  there 
with  Osins  for  three  thousand  years,  to  return  again 
to  this  earth  and  re-enter  their  former  bodies,  it  be- 
came necessary  that  these  bodies  should  resist  de- 
SLnii      1°"^  intenrening  period.    Hence  arose 
the  entire  system  of  elaborate  embalming,  of  swathing 
in  hnen  and  then  bur/ing  in  .stone  sarcophagi  cov? 
ered  with  lids  so  heavy  that  it  would  be  scarcely  pos- 
sible to  move  them.     If  a  man  were  wealthy  he  spent 
an  enormous  sum  in  making  himself  a  tomb,  by  in- 
structing a  pyramid  over  his  sarcophagus,  or  by  cut- 
tong  chambers  far  down  into  some  rock.  With  the  idea, 
most  probably,  that  it  would  propitiate  the  gods,  pas- 
sages from  the  sacred  book.  The  Ritual  of  the  Dlad, 

deceased,  painted  on  the  mummy  bandages,  or  en- 
graved upon  the  inner  walls  of  his  tomb.  Some- 
w!?h\?«  ^  complete  copy  of  the  book  buried 

jWney?'  "°  reference  during  his  long 


k 

' 

!! 

'tM 

11 

It  •' 


pi' 


112    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

The  thoughts  of  death,  of  judgment,  of  a  sentence 
luvolving  future  happiness  or  misery,  according  to  the 
life  led  on  this  earth,  were  familiar  ideas  to  the  ordi- 
nary Egyptian.   While  his  theological  beliefs  generally 
were  more  or  less  confused  and  fantastical,  he  had 
still  a  strong  and  abiding  conviction  that  his  fate 
after  death  ivould  depend  on  his  conduct  during  his 
hfe  on  earth,  and  especially  on  his  observance  of  the 
moral  law,  and  the  performance  of  his  various  public 
and  social  duties.^    There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this 
belief  was  a  potent  factor  for  good  with  the  Egyptian ; 
and  did  much  for  the  general  prosperiiyand  progress 
of  the  nation.     It  is  not  altogether  easy  to  say  what 
the  educated   classes  believed   with  respect  to  the 
principle  of  evil,  but  judging  from  early  inscriptions 
and  papyri,  the  Egyptian  religion,  like  that  of  Persia 
and  other  ancient  peoples,  was  dualistic  in  its  charac- 
ter, and   represented  the  idea  of  an  interminable 
struggle  between  the  powers  of  light  and  darkness, 
of  good  and  evil,  in  which  the  better  element,  after  a 
hard  contest,  eventually  prevailed.    It  would  appear 
that  Egyptian  philosophy  held  that  the  principle  of 
evil,  as  well  as  that  of  good,  was  a  necessary  part  of 
the  universal  system  of  things.     Hence  it  was  taught 
that  the  gods  representing  disorder  and  evil  in  the 
worid  should  be  propitiated,  and  rendered  more  fa- 
vourable to  mankind,  by  according  to  them  divine  hon- 
ours equally  with  those  divinities  who  represented 
all  that  was  good.    Were  it  not  for  its  debasing 
animal  worship,  and  a  few  other  gross  superstitions, 
the  religion  of  the  Egyptians  had  many  elements  of 
good  within  it.    Its  Ritual  of  the  Dead  embodied  many 
high  moral  features,  and  would  seem  to  have  formed 
the  basis  for  a  part,  at  least,  of  the  legislation  framed 
by  Moses  for  the  guidance  of  the  Hebrew  nation. 
As  St.   Stephen  tells   us   in  Acts  vii.   22,  he  was 
learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians. 

»  Bif ch's  Egypt  from  the  Earliest  Times,  p.  46. 


BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA.  113 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  BABYLONIANS  AND 
ASSYRIANS. 

In  the  tenth  chapter  of  Genesis,  we  are  presented 
with  a  clear  record  of  the  immediate  descendants  of 
Noah.     One  of  the  four  sons  of  Ham  was  Cush,  who 
had  a  son  born  to  him  named  Nimrod.    When  the 
latter  grew  up  to  manhood  he  began  to  be  a  mighty 
man  in  the  earth ;  and  after  the  dispersion  founded  a 
great  kingdom,  to  the  west  of  the  Euphrates,  the  be- 
ginning of  which  were  the  cities  of  Babel,  Erech, 
Accad  and  Calneh,  in  the  land  of  Shinar.     Sham  had 
five  sons,  among  whom  were  Elam  and  Asshur.    At 
verse  thirty-two,  of  the  above  chapter,  we  are  told 
that  "  these  are  the  families  of  the  sons  of  Noah, 
after  their  generations,  in  their  nations,  and  by  these 
were  the  nations  divided  after  the  Flood."     Asshur 
went  out  from  the  Land  of  Shinar,  no  doubt  after  his 
cousin  Nimrod  had  become  its  sovereign,  built  Nin- 
eveh, and  founded  a  kingdom  of  his  own,  of  a  sacer- 
dotal or  priestly  character,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Euphrates;   while  Elam  established  himself  in  the 
mountainous  region  farther  east,  lying  to  the  north 
of  modern  Persia.     Mizraim,  the  second  son  of  Ham, 
led  another  language  group  down  into  Egypt,  and 
was  no  doubt  the  Menes  who  founded  the  first  dyn- 
asty of  its  kings.     Phut  and   Canaan  crossed  the 
Upper  Euphrates  in  a  westerly  direction,  and  settled 
in  Asia  Minor  along  the  Mediterranean  coast  and 
elsewhere.    Not  only  did  Asshur,  or  Assur,  build  Nine- 
veh, and  give  his  name  to  the  Assyrian  Kingdom 
which  he  founded,  but  eventually  became,  after  the 
manner  of  ancestor  worship  in  primitive  times,  and  to  a 
large  extent  in  China  to-day,  its  principal  god.  Archae- 
ological discoveries  in  Babylonia  and  Assyria,  dur- 
ing the  latter  half  of  the  past  century,  have  unearthed 
numerous  tablet  inscriptions  which  strongly  confirm 
the  accuracy  of  the  historical  record  in  Genesis  x. ; 

8 


i 


1 1 


^1 


M 


114    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE, 
and  materially  aid  us  in  forming  a  good  idea  of  how 

^blShf^'^U^^^'lT  °^*^^  ^"^''"t  ^°'W  were  es^ 
th^  n»^:  Vr""^  ^^P""*'  *"''°'»  t^"«  «cords,  that 
aLh^T  »w  ^**'  '""^?°'"  ^°""d«d  by  Nimrod  was 
a21  n  •''^•'  '*f  ^^.°P'*  ^"^  *^«™«d  Accadians.  and 

IicaJ  narrative.    These  facts  come  down  to  us  not  in 

tie  nrTJ'f*°^*''''">^^«"^  ^^^^''  *hich  envelop 
he^fjf  "*-."^  Begmning  of  Things,  recorded  hy 
heathen  writers,  but  in  the  clear  light  of  accurate 
Scripture  history    supported  and  confirmed  by  nu^ 

?W  .n "''•^".  "^^^^^  \"^  monumental  inscriptions. 
These  mscriptions,  m  the  providence  of  God.  have 

thr„,rTf^^  ^°'  '"^"y  ^""'^^^^^^  of  years  b^neaJh 
Assvrianlm*^l'*  '°T  ?*"  •""•"'  ^^  Babylonian  and 
inTn/^  r  ?P'f  *"^  P*'*^*^'  *«>  eventually  become, 
witnesses^oflh^  n""^  ^^^T*^"^  disbelief,  the  mute 
SnH     w  Divine  revelation  vouchsafed  to  man- 

kind We  now  see.  in  the  plainest  manner,  that  the 
SS  anH^°  °??"*Vy  established  themsefv^s  ^*the 
tZ^/n  most  fertUe  regions  of  this  world  were  not 
the  Ignorant   skin-clad  savages,  using   mere  stone 

Sr  ^^^  :*'■  ""^  *^  ^'»^^'  ^hic?  some  o  our 
modern  scientists  would  have  us  believe.  On  the 
contrary  they  possessed  a  high  degree  of  civilisation 
and  were  well  acquainted  with  thf  art  of  w  itbg  a 
th^?''^"  ?"'  '".  f  probability  had  descTndef  to 
h^^iiT  K**''^^?^  ^^"^  ^*'"g«;  «°d  which,  at  least! 

bel.    Under  all  these  circumstances  the  conclusion 
veor  forcibly  presents  itself  to  our  minds,  that   n  he 

thetrrS*;^*P''7u°^  *^^  ^°°^  °f  Genesis  we  have 
Jno  •     *5"*°'^  °^*'*^  ^""^'^^  ancient  world,  told  to  us. 

w^>hn\*^'  r'*  ''"'P'^  ^"**  d'^^^^t  '"^ner  possible 
without  myth  or  exaggeration  of  any  kind  what- 

nl'ol-    ^^^  *^'  ^'^  °^  *^«  B'blical  narrath^e,  aX- 

eiXi'^T'L" Tu  '"i**^  P°^'t'^«  «"d  circumstantSl 
evidence  which  that  discovery  has  brought  to  light 
we  are  now  in  a  position  to  view  the  chronob^d 


BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA.  1,5 

events  of  the  ancient  world  from  a  much  more  lumi- 
nous standpoint  than  was  formerly  the  cai.e;  and  to 
approach  very  closely,  at  least,  to  their  true  arrange- 
ment and  sequence. 

Not  only  have  Babylonian  tablet  and  monumental 
mscnptions,  thrown  a  clear  and  tolerably  full  lieht 
on  the  political  and  social  condition  of  the  Accadian 
nation,  but  records  of  its  own,  made  by  the  Accadians 
themselves,  have  also  come  down  to  us.      These 
records  show   that   their  original  system  of  hiero- 
glyphic or  picture-writing,  had  very  soon  developed 
Itself  into  the  arrow-headed  or  cuneiform  character, 
grouped  into  syllables.     The   Accadians  were  ac- 
quainted with  astronomy,  and  had  made  careful  ob- 
servations and  calculations  of  the  movements  of  the 
planetaiy  bodies.    They  had  a  well-arranged  system 
ot  weights  and  measures,  a  money  currency  skilfully 
graded,  and  a  literature  of  which  copious  remains  are 
now  found  in  the  British  Museum,  and   in  kindred 
institutions  elsewhere,  and  which  embraced  works  on 
geography,  astronomy,  astrology,  mythology,  gram- 
mar and  mathematics.    Among  their  literary  remains 
is  an  epic  poem  styled  The  Descent  of  the  Goddess 
Ishtar  to  Hades,  a  psalm  or  hymn  to  the  gods,  and 
legends  of  gods,  goddesses  and  heroes.*    That  the 
Accadians  had  originally  a  knowledge  of  the  one  true 
God  must  be  presumed,  not  only  from  the  circum- 
stance of  their  descent  from  Noah,  but  also  from  the 
facte  that  they  observed  the  sabbath,  or  seventh  day, 
with  even  more  than  Jewish  strictness;  and  had  very 
distinct  traditions  of  the  Creation  and  the  Deluge. 
Their  residence  in  the  broad  plains  of  Babylonia, 
where  the  summer  sun  so  steadily  pours  down  its 
beams ;  where  the  stars  shine  so  brightly  when  day- 
light has  disappeared,  and  the  moonlit  nights  are  so 
transcendentally  beautiful,  gradually  turned  the  Ac- 
cadians from  the  worship  of  an  unseen  one  God  into 

Vol.  IIL  p!i^^''  ^"'^  "'""'^  ***  Babylon.    Records  of  the  Past, 


!  1 


11 


116    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 
SrSlfP*'!  °^^^''  ''.''•'''*  ?'««  luminaries  of  heaven 
astral  than  a  solar  character   an^  u  ?J     °^  "" 

every  large  city,  or  important  centre  of  ooDulation 
cJfi'!;?-.*"  'ndependent  state,  ruled  by  a  Wng    "; 

the  hands  of  priests  and  magicians.  The  world  2 
was  believed,  swarmed  with  spirite  of  one  WnH  nr 
another,  especially  with  demons  and  scarcilv  an 
action  could  be  performed  which  did  not  e^Su  the 
nsk  of  demoniac  possession.  Diseases  were  ?e£arded 
as  being  caused  in  this  way,  and  the  cherubs  bull? 
and  other  animal  figures,  which  usually  guarded  tl^^ 
entrance  to  eveiy  house  of  any  importance  were  b^- 
beved  to  preserve  it  from  harm.  Eve?^  Je  wo?e 
LTe^ru'rse'ofT"'  *"  ^".-dag-nst  ev^  iXenTe" 
demenS  of  no?  ""^  "'*^'°  *P'"'^'  °^  "-^ther  deified 
fnf<?fK     °^"*t'""«i  ^'ere  elevated  above  their  fellows 

£e°  tHad Tno^'  ^?u''  VK^'^''  ^^  whom  stood 
SSd^e  thf  1^5  °\  ^}'u  ^'^'  ^*  ""'  *^«  earth,  and 
Mudge  the  lord  of  the  under  world.     Shamus  the 

the"  IccadTns'^'Th  P°P"'- °^i-t  of  adoratr  vSj 
cated  to  hf^  ?f.,'^^t"*  '"^'^^'^  Tisriwas  dedi- 
S'ntlles'tl'als'"'  ''*^  *'^  "°°"  ^^^  ^^  ^^^  "- 

/^ccaaia    by-and-by  invited    invasion.      About   the 


BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA. 


117 


middle  of  the  twenty-fourth  century  B.  C.  a  large  emi- 
gration took  place  from  Arabia  into  Southern  Baby- 
lonia, and  settled  around  and  in  Ur,  ^e  present 
Mugheir,  in  the  delta  of  the  Euphrates.  They  were  of 
Semitic  stock  *  and  from  one  of  their  tribes  Abraham 
afterwards  sprang.  Steadily  fighting  their  way  north- 
ward, and  most  probably  aided  by  some  Assyrian  ally 
from  the  other  side  of  the  Euphrates,  they  gradually 
mastered  the  Accadians,  and  became  their  rulers. 
But  they  were  in  time  subdued  by  the  more  advanced 
culture  and  wider  knowledge  of  the  conquered  nation ; 
and  the  two  races  presently  blended  into  one  people 

S)olitically  and  religiously.  Sargon  I.,  if  not  the 
ounder  of  the  new  dynasty  of  rulers,  which  arose  in 
Accadia,  was  certainly  the  most  distinguished  of  its 
kings.  He  is  most  probably  the  ancient  sovereign  of 
Babylon,  mentioned  in  the  inscriptions  of  the  Assyr- 
ian king,  Assurbanipal,  as  having  reigned  1635  years 
before  his  day,  or  2289  years  B.  c.  There  is,  however, 
great  diversity  of  opinion  among  Assyriologists  as  to 
the  period  when  Sargon  I.  lived.  Maspero  and  other 
authorities  place  that  period  at  2000  years  B.  c,  while 
George  Smith's  figures  correspond  very  nearly  with 
those  of  Assurbanipal.  Several  German  sceptical 
Assyriologists,  in  their  eagerness  to  discredit  the  Bible, 
put  the  reign  of  Sargon  I.  at  a  period  of  fabulous 
remoteness,  namely,  3800  years  B.  C,  for  which  there 
is  no  sound  authority  whatever ;  and  flippantly  talk  of 
events  as  occurring  in  the  fourth  and  even  fifth  mil- 
lenniums B.  c,  but  without  being  able  to  produce  a 
particle  of  honest  proof  to  sustain  their  statements. 
As  we  have  already  explained,  in  our  chapter  on 
Chronology,  the  earlier  history  of  Babylonia  was 
wholly  without  any  fixed  period  to  date  from.  Its 
events,  therefore,  as  described  by  tablet  inscriptions, 
are  involved  in  inextricable  confusion  and  are  mere 


'The  Semitic  races  were  the  Chaldean  and  Svriac,  the  Arabic  and 
Ethiopian ;  the  Phoenician  and  peoples  of  Palestine.  They  all  spoke 
the  same  language,  with  merely  dialectical  variations. 


I     !i 


H 


ii8    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

historical  sketches  without  dates ;  and  the  attempts  to 
place  them  in  any  definite  millennium  B.  c.  belonn  to 
the  region  of  idle  spccuIaUon.  The  advent  of  Abra- 
.rZr^H  *J»«70'l*l!  stage,  supplies  us  with  the  first 
itr^A  »j'»''*'"F-P<»ntof  remote  ancient  history,  both 
sacred  and  profane.  He  was  born,  as  nearly  as  can  be 
gathered  from  Biblical  history,  221, year.  B.C. anS« 
l.r'M''  good  grounds  for  the  supposition,  from  tablet 
records  and  other  circumstances,  that  Sargon  I.  reigned 
a  centuiy  or  two  before  his  day,  the  latter  was  evi- 
denUy  the  king  alluded  to  by  Assurbanipal. 

,„Hi''*°!l  1""^  ?  ^''*'*  religious  reformer,  and  pres- 
ently undertook,  in  connection  with  some  of  the  prin- 
cipal temple  priests,  to  remodel  the  ancient  Accadian 
njythology  and  widen  its  scope.    The  old  triad  of  the 
chief  gods  now  became  the  trinity  of  Anu.  Ea  and 
Bel  all  children  of  Zicana,  the  sky;  while  Bel-Mero- 
^ch  was  installed  as  the  tutelary  deity  of  Babylon. 
Below  these  came  a  seccnd  triad  of  the  moon  god 
sun  god,  and  air  god.    After  these  were  arranged 
fifty  other  great  gods.    Next  in  order  of  precedence 
came  the  300  spirits  of  heaven,  and  the  600  spirits  of 
earth,  among  whom  were  found  places  for  all  the 
local  divinifaes  of  Chaldea.    The  most  dreaded  of  the 
spirits  of  the  earth  were  the  seven  spirits  who  were 
born,  without  father  or  mother,  in  the  abyss  of  the 
ocean  and  earned  plagues  and  other  evils  over  the 
worid.    In  addition  to  the  establishment  of  the  offi- 
cial creed  of  Babylonia,  an  astro-theology  was  created 
.nhirf  "lJr°*'"*=V<?"  of  astronomy  into  the  religious 
^'.u^'^     **^  'P'"^  °^  various  stars  were  identified 
with  djiTerent  gods  of  the  reformed  faith.    Merodach, 
one  of  the  forms  of  the  sun  god,  was  identified  with 

ShPJ\"  i^P'**''  ^""^  *^^  ^""^  planetary  deities  were 
added  to  the  seven  magnificent  gods,  making  up  al- 
!vffii.'%*5-  tw.el^e  chiefs  of  the  gods.  An  elaborate 
system  of  divining  flourished  in  Babylonia  and  Assyria 
down  to  the  last  days  of  the  empire,  and  omens  were 
drawn  from  every  event  that  could  possibly  take 


BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA. 


119 


place.  The  Accadian  magicians  and  soothsayers 
became  priests  of  the  new  system  of  state  religion, 
which  placed  idolatry  on  a  stable  and  more  ritualistic 
basis,  and  riveted  old  superstitions  still  more  strongly 
about  the  necks  of  the  people.  But  the  new  mytho- 
logical  creed  possessed  many  elements  of  endurance. 
It  satisfied  the  religious  aspirations  of  the  Babylo- 
nians, had  numerous  great  templer  erected  by  one 
ruler  after  another,  for  its  development,  and  continued 
to  prosper  and  expand  until  the  reign  of  Cyrus,  a 
period  of  nearly  nineteen  centuries.  The  memory  of 
Sargon  I.,  as  its  chief  promoter,  was  ever  held  in  the 
highest  esteem  by  its  priesthood,  and  occupied  a  fore- 
most place  in  their  records ;  a  circumstance  which  no 
doubt  led  to  the  reference  made  by  Assurbanipal  to 
which  we  have  already  alluded. 

Assyrian  mythology  while  in  harmony  with  the 
Babylonian,  in  a  general  way,  differed  therefrom  in 
minor  details.  Asshur  or  Assur  in  the  Assyrian  sys- 
tem is  of  all  the  gods  by  far  the  greatest.  No  name 
occurs  so  often  as  his,  no  other  god  has  attributes  so 
clearly  defined  and  positive.  The  land  of  Assyra 
bears  his  name,  its  inhabitants  are  his  servants,  or  his 
people,  its  soldiers  form  the  armies  of  the  god  Asshur, 
its  enemies  are  the  enemies  of  Asshur.  As  for  its 
kings  they  are  connected  with  him  in  every  way. 
He  places  them  on  the  throne,  lengthens  their  reigns, 
and  gives  them  victory  in  the  day  of  battle.  When 
they  subdued  a  country,  the  emblems  of  Asshur  were 
set  up  in  prominent  places,  and  the  conquered  people 
compelled  to  conform  to  his  laws.  The  gods  Anu, 
Bel,  and  Ea,  came  after  him  in  the  Assyrian  pantheon, 
and  below  these,  as  in  Babylonia,  numerous  minor 
gods  were  arranged. 

The  Assyrians  and  Babylonians  worshipped  their 
gods  in  shrines  or  chapels  of  no  very  great  size,  to 
which,  however,  lofty  towers,  called  ziggurets,  of  seven 
storeys  in  height,  were  frequently  attached.  Each  of 
these  storeys  was  smaller  than  the  one  beneath ;  the 


'i'i 


I    ■■1- 


I 


lao    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

final  storey  forming  •  small  chapel  where  a  stone  or 
metal  image  of  the  presiding  god  was  placed.    There 
was  nothing  hideous  or  even  grotesque  about  the 
images  of  the  Assyrian  gods,  who  were  worshipped  by 
prayer,  praise  and  sacrifice.    Special  intercession  was 
made  by  the  temple  priests  for  the  kings  of  the  land 
The  principal  sacrificial  animals  were  bulls,  oxen 
sheep,  and  gazelles.    Libations  of  wine  were  also  « 
part  of  the  recognised  worship,  and  oflTerings  to  the 
god  might  be  made  of  anything  valuable.    Unlike 
the  Egyptians,  the  Babylonians  and  Assyrians  had 
not  a    very  clear  conception    of   the   immortality 
of  the  soul.    Still  inscriptions  have  been  found,  in 
which  an  existence  in  a  future  state  after  death  is 
spoken  of,  and  where  the  happiness  of  the  good  and 
the  wretchedness  of  the  wicked  are  alluded  to.    In 
one  passage  the  future  happiness  of  the  king  is 
prayed  for,  and  in  another  supplication  is  made  for 
a  departing  friend:  "May  the  Sun,"  the  inscription 
runs  m  the  latter  case,  "give  him  life,  and  Merodach 
grant  him  an  abode  of  happiness.    May  the  Sun,  the 
greatest  of  the  gods,  receive  his  soul  into  his  holy 
hands."    Hades,  the  abode  of  the  wicked  after  death, 
IS  spoken  of  as  a  place  of  darkness  and  famine.    The 
soul  in  heaven  is  represented  as  being  clad  in  white 
garments,  and  as  partaking  of  celestial  food  in  the 
presence  of  the  gods.* 

>  Ancient  Monarchies,  Vol.  II.  p.  »i.    Record*  of  the  PmL  Vol. 
III.  p.  124.    Retigiraa  of  the  Ancient  World,  MC  65. 


I' ' 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE  ANCIENT  RELIGIONS  OF  IRAN  OR  PERSIA,  i  :  tA 
MINOR,  AND  CAPTHACE. 

The  Iranians,  as  the  Persians  were  originally  c  li^  l 
and  as  they  still  like  to  call  themselves,  were  at  one 
time  the  dominant  race  in  a  vast  region  of  Scii'h 
western  Asia,  extending  from  Babylonia  and  Meso- 
potamia in  the  west,  to  the  river  Indus  in  the  east ; 
and  from  the  mountainous  country  along  the  Black 
and  Caspian  Seas  and  the  river  Oxus,  in  the  north, 
to  the  Persian  Gulf  and  the  Arabian  Sea,  in  the  south. 
It  is  a  region  of  great  climatic  extremes  —  of  fierce 
summer  heat,  and  intense  winter  cold ;  of  luxuriantly 
fertile  districts;  and  of  vast  and  frightful  deserts. 
In  these  respects  it  was  unlike  the  Nile  valley, 
and  the  great  plains  of  Babylonia  and  Mesopo- 
tamia, where  the  climate  was  admost  uniform,  and  a 
monotonous  fertility  led  to  universal  abundance.  It 
might  naturally  be  expected,  that  a  peculiar  and 
more  robust  religion  would  develop  itself  in  a  coun- 
try of  such  a  varied  physical  character.  What  the 
original  religion  of  Iran  was  tradition  does  not  at  all 
clearly  state.  In  the  fourteenth  century  B.  c,  a 
religious  reformer  named  Zoroaster  arose,  who  was 
said  to  be  a  native  of  Bactria,  and  who  soon  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  people,  owing  to  the  peculiar 
dualistic  doctrines  which  he  taught  According  to 
these  doctrines,  there  existed  at  the  Beginning  of 
Things  two  spirits  antagonistic  in  their  characters. 
One  of  these,  named  Hormuzd,  represents  everything 


111! 

m 


122    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

that  is  good   while  the  other,  Ahriman,  or  Satan, 
represents  a  1  that  is  bad.    Both  spirits,  according 
to  Zoroasters  teaching,  possess  creative  power— iS 
the  one  positively,  in  the  other  negatively.     In  the 
spiritual  world  Hormuzd  is  light  and  life,  and  all  that 
IS  pure  and  good;  in  the  ethical  world  law,  order,  and 
truth.     Ahriman,  on  the  other  hand,  represents  filth, 
death,  lawlessness,  falsehood,  and   all  that  is  evil; 
from  all  which  Hormuzd  is  to  eventually  free  manl 
kind.    Their  field  of  battle  is  the  present  world ;  and 
the  great  object  of  contention  is  for  the  soul  of  man 
In  the  contest  Hormuzd  is  aided  by  a  number  of 
genu,  who  represent  special  ideas  of  moral  existence. 
Within  the  world  of  good  Hormuzd  is  God  alone 

^u°?f^*^'■.''^'l^''^*^  *>^^  *^  ^"'"«s  of  time  was  near! 
that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  was  at  hand,  and  the  end 
of  the  world  not  far  off.  He  hoped,  like  his  followers 
of  the  present  day,  to  live  to  see  the  decisive  turn  of 
things ;  the  dawn  of  a  new  and  better  era.  Hormuzd 
will  eventually  summon  together  all  his  subordinates 
for  a  final  and  decisive  struggle,  and  forever  break 
the  power  of  Satan,  who  will  be  cast  into  the  abyss 
there  to  suffer  the  pangs  of  hell  for  all  eternity.  Then 
will  begin  the  undivided  kingdom  of  God  in  heaven 
and  on  earth.  In  that  kingdom  the  sun  will  forever 
shine,  and  all  the  pious  and  faithful  will  live  a  happy 
life,  that  no  evil  can  disturb,  in  the  perpetual  fellow- 
ship of  Hormuzd  and  all  his  saints. 

Zoroaster's  creed  speedily  seized  hold  on  the  pop- 
ular  mmd,  and  gradually  spread  throughout  all  Iran 
It  eventually  came  to  possess  an  extensive  priest- 
hood, termed  the  Magii,  to  teach  its  doctrines,  which 
gradually  however  became  corrupted.  Zoroaster's 
creed  was  too  abstract  and  spiritualistic  for  the 
masses  of  the  common  people,  who  sighed,  like  the 
Hebrews  of  old,  for  some  visible  object  to  adore  The 
sun  as  the  beneficent  source  of  light  and  warmth,  and 
as  the  presumed  natural  representative  of  the  Deity 
eventually  came  to  be  worshipped  by  the  Iranians' 


RELIGION  OF  ANCIENT  PERSIA.     123 

During  the  reign  of  Xerxes  (485  B.  c.)  the  followers 
of  Zoroaster  were  brought  into  contact,  in  Armenia 
and  Cappadocia,  with  Magism  or  the  worship  of  the 
four  elements,  fire,  air,  earth  and  water.  But  fire  was 
the  great  element  with  the  Magii,  and  the  sun,  as  its 
prototype.  So  the  two  creeds,  so  alike  in  their  gen- 
eral features,  gradually  blended  together,  and  out  of 
the  two  combined  arose  the  Guebre  faith  or  Fire 
Worship  of  Persia,  which  endured  until  the  period  of 
the  Mohammedan  conquest.  Driven  out  of  Persia 
by  their  fanatical  conquerors,  the  Fire  Worshippers, 
or  Parsees,  as  they  are  now  called,  eventually  found 
refuge  in  Bombay,  and  at  other  points  in  India.  The 
monotheistic  creed  of  the  Persians,  and  its  opposition 
to  gross  idolatrous  forms  of  worship,  found  great 
favour  with  the  Jewish  people,  led  to  much  mutual 
good-feeling,  and  eventually  to  the  restoration  of  the 
temple  at  Jerusalem  by  the  order  of  Cyrus.  There 
was  no  Hebrew  rebellion  against  his  rule,  nor  against 
that  of  his  successors,  under  which  the  Jews  in  Pales- 
tine lived  contentedly  until  the  conquest  of  the 
Persian  Empire  by  Alexander  the  Great,  who  also 
proved  their  especial  friend  and  benefac:or.  One 
hundred  and  seventy-six  years  before  the  reign  of 
Cyrus  began,  and  seventy-six  years  before  the  de- 
struction of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  Isaiah  prophe- 
sied that  Cyrus  would  restore  the  Jewish  captives  in 
Babylonia  and  permit  the  temple  to  be  rebuilt. 
(Isaiah  xliv.  26,  28.)  See  also  in  this  connection 
Jeremiah  xxiv.  11,  12. 

The  Parsees  of  to-day  are  a  most  interesting,  intel- 
ligent, and  well-educated  people,  and  still  make  their 
headquarters  in  the  city  of  Bombay,  where  the  writer 
lived  amongst  them  for  several  months  in  1845,  and 
had  a  good  opportunity  of  studying  their  manner  of 
living,  and  peculiar  religion.  The  modern  Parsee, 
like  his  remote  ancestor,  maintains  that  an  original 
principle,  analogous  to  eternity,  created  light,  water, 
fire,  Hormuzd  the  source  of  all  good,  and  Ahriman 


ii 


'^\ 


124    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

the  source  of  all  evil;  speech  preceding  all  creation, 
for  by  jt  the  formation  of  beings  and  all  matter  was 
effected.  Hormuzd  is  adored  for  his  benevolence, 
and  Ahriman  held  in  detestation  for  his  malevolence. 
Their  behef  thus  far  closely  resembles  that  of  the 
Hmdoos,  whose  three  greatest  deities  are  Brahma 
th-  creating  power,  Shiva  the  destroying,  and  Vishnu 
the  preserving.  Many  of  the  traditions  of  the  Guebres 
are  assimilated  to  Scripture  truths. 

With  respect  to  fire  the  Guebres  place  its  fountain- 
head  in  the  sun,  to  which  they  pay  the  greatest 
reverence,  as  well  in  gratitude  for  the  various  benefits 
resulting  from  its  ministerial  omniscience,  as  from  the 
belief  that  the  throne  of  the  author  of  all  good  is 
located  m  that  luminary.    But  they  do  not  confound 
the  creature  with  the  creator.    They  view  the  sun 
simply  as  a  passive   instrument,  controlled  by  the 
power  of  the  Deity,  and  as  possessed  of  no  qualiMes 
of  sense  or  reason ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  they  only 
give  it  a  secondary  place  among  the  works  of  crea- 
tion, the  first  being  occupied  by  the  mind  of  man. 
According  to  their  sacred  books  the  holy  fire  should 
be  found  in  every  town  and  settlement;  and  when 
they  find  it  necessary  to  move  to  new  localities  it 
should  be  carried  with  them.    The  Guebres  allege 
that  the  sacred  fire,  which  they  call  Behram,  is  the 
guardian  of  their  abodes  and  destinies;  that  it  is  the 
extract  of  looi  fires,  taken  from  fifteen  other  fires; 
and  that  it  must  always  be  preserved  unextinguished 
in  absolute  purity.    Many  sacrifices  are  made  on  the 
altars  before  it,  either  by  priests  in  their  temples,  or 
by  individuals  in  private.    In  the  temples  the  fire 
burns  in  a  vase  within  a  grating,  which  none  may 
approach  but  the  priests,  who  keep  it  alive,  and 
watch  perpetually  over  it  day  and  night;  the  light  of 
the  sun,  owing  to  its  superior  brilliancy,  being  care- 
fully excluded.    Should  any  stranger  approach  the 
holy  fire  the  priests  consider  themselves  defiled,  and 
have  to  undergo  a  ceremony  of  purification  during 


RELIGION  OF  ANCIENT  PERSIA.     125 

which  they  are  suspended  from  the  performance  of 
their  sacerdotal  duties.  As  to  those  priests,  the 
modern  Guebre  holds  them  in  the  greatest  rever- 
ence, as  has  been  the  case  in  every  age  since  their 
original  foundation.  The  historian  Gibbon,  when 
describing  the  ancient  Guebres,  says :  "  If  the  des- 
tours  or  priests  be  satisfied  your  soul  will  escape 
hell's  tortures;  you  will  have  praise  in  this  world 
and  happiness  in  the  next;  for  the  destours  are 
teachers  of  religion,  they  know  all  things  and  deliver 
all  men." 

Independently  of  their  sacred  fire,  the  Parsees 
have  the  greatest  veneration  for  that  element  in 
general ;  and  when  once  kindled  they  deem  it  sacri- 
lege to  extinguish  it  unless  by  a  particular  method. 
A  lighted  candle  must  either  be  left  to  burn  out  to 
the  end,  or,  if  they  wish  to  save  a  portion  of  it,  the 
part  next  the  wick  is  cut  off,  and  carried  to  the 
hearth  to  be  consumed.  A  light  is  blown  out  with 
the  wind  of  a  fan  or  of  the  hand,  but  never  with  the 
mouth,  for  that  would  be  impure.  Should  their 
houses  take  fire  they  will  not  permit  the  flames  to 
be  extinguished  by  water  in  the  usual  way,  but  pull 
down  the  surrounding  parts  of  the  building  in  order 
that  they  may  expire  of  themselves  when  they  have 
nothing  more  to  feed  upon ;  their  idea  being  to  let 
fire  die  away  of  itself,  without  any  endeavour  on 
their  part  to  abbreviate  its  duration.  They  will  allow 
no  person  to  meddle  even  with  their  shop-lights; 
and  a  European  can  scarcely  insult  them  more  grossly 
than  by  attempting  to  light  a  cigar  or  pipe  with 
them.  The  festival  days  of  the  Parsees  are  very 
numerous,  but  their  principal  annual  festival  is  cele- 
brated on  the  last  ten  days  of  the  year,  when  they 
believe  that  the  souls  of  the  just  descend  within  three 
bow-shots  of  the  earth.  They  likewise  carefully  ob- 
serve their  birthdays,  and  also  those  of  their  children, 
towards  whom  their  conduct  is  affectionate  and  indul- 
gent in  the  extreme.     But  in  no  respect  are  these 


w 


126    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

&!L  T'":  "•"S"'*"''  o"-  distinct  from  other  sects, 
than  m  the  treatment  of  their  dead.  The  corpse  is 
placed  ma  round  tower,  or  other  circular  edifice 

wCi  *°P'  °".*  '*°"*  ^°°'  ^'°P'"g  to  the  centre,' 
honl.  r/^  'J  ^  d««P.^«"  or  sink  into  which  the 
frnn  rU  c''k!°'"P°''*'°"'  ^'^  gathered  with  an 
nkate  wft'h  ,?V''*5'"|'*"<^^"  Passages  beneath  commu- 
nicate with  this  sink  and  prevent  it  from  being  filled 

bodies  of  the  dead  soon  present  a  most  revolting 
appearance.  Yet  the  Parsees  from  habit  regard  thf 
spectacle  with  indifference;  and  calmly  draw  omens 
of  good  or  evil,  as  regards  the  state  of  the  departed 
soul  from  the  eye  which  is  first  plucked  out  Ey  the 

iThZ  n"''"r-  J?f"^^«  a?avourite  condWon 
with  this  people,  while  sterility  is.  on  the  contrary, 
a  reproach      When  a  young  woman  attains  maturihr 

tLf^u^"''"'^-}^l^  ^^'  P^'-^"ts  provide  a  huS- 
band  for  her.  and  ,f  they  disregard  her  request  it  is 
deemed  a  culpable  negligence  on  their  part;  but  if 
she.  on  the  other  hand,  declines  the  married  state, 
and  dies  a  virgin  at  eighteen,  her  soul  is  believed  to 

worw"  ^         '*  ''*""*'"^  ""*"  *^^  ^"'^  °f  the 

The  Parsees  have  been  in  India  for  over  a  thou- 
sand years,  and  when  they  first  arrived  there  num- 
bered at  least  20CJO  souls.     Owing  to  wars,  pestilence 
he  comparative  unhealthiness  of  the  climate,  their 
luxurious  habits  of  living  when  they  could  affird  it 
and   the  free  use  of  wine  and  other  strong  drinks 
T„  I'flL""^*'^  »«  number  has  been  exceedingly  slow 
Jl  ^f'p**^*'^''^!"^  *°  t^^  offi<=ial  census,  thire  were 
72,065  Parsees  in  the  Bombay  presidency.     But  as 

nXr?  ?^  i'^^V  """Chants  and  ship-owners  of 
British  India   they  have  settled  for  the  purposes  of 
trade  m  all  the  chief  cities  of  that  country!  and  in 
neighbouring  states;    and  to-day.  inclusive  of  some 
5K«o  in   Persia   where  the   fanatical   Mohammedan 
scarcely  permits  them  to  exist,  they  number  prob- 


RELIGION  OF  ANCIENT  PERSIA,     127 

ably  about  150,000  souls.     Many  of  them  are  very 
wealthy,  and   may  be   classed   among  the  princely 
merchants  of  the  earth ;  and  taking  them  altogether 
they  are  an  industrious,  enterprising  people,  among 
whom  the  extreme  of  individual  poverty  is  unknown, 
as  the  rich  invariably  assist  the  poor  when  required. 
They  may  be  said  to  monopolise  the  trade  of  Western 
India,  displaying  in  commerce  the  energy  and  acute- 
ness  of  the  British  merchant,  with  all  the  shrewd  craft 
and  latent  duplicity  characteristic  of  Asiatics  in  general. 
The  Parsee  merchants  of  Bombay  have  branch  estab- 
lishments in   all  the   principal  towns  and   military 
stations  of  the  presidency,  and  in  Lower  and  Upper 
Scinde;   while  their  vessels  trade  to  all  the  chief 
ports  of  the  East  and  to  Great  Britain.     In  many 
cases  they  have  become  extensive  landholders  by 
purchase,  and  their  country  seats  are  most  elegantly 
fitted  up,  and  furnished  in  the  English  fashion.     To 
speak  English  well,  and  to  be  like  the  Englishman, 
in  everything  but  religion  and  dress,  are  their  great 
ambitions.     Their  equipages  are  the  handsomest  in 
Bombay,  they  like  to  ride,  use  English  saddles,  and 
are   good   horsemen.     They  are  a  handsome  olive- 
complexioned  race,  sensualists  in  their  pleasures,  and 
sociable  in  their  manners.     In  nearly  all  the  govern- 
ment and  public  offices  of  the  Bombay  presidency 
Parsees  will  be  met  with,  either  in  posts  of  trust  or 
as  clerks,  duties  which  are  ever  fulfilled  with  honesty 
and   ability.      As  a  people  they  justly  merit  the 
indulgent  light  in  which  they  are  regarded   by  the 
authorities  of  the  presidency,  being  equally  suscep- 
tible of  polish  and  refinement  with  the  European, 
although  closely  wedded  to  their  ancient  mode  of 
dress  and  to  their   religion.     A  Parsee   convert  to 
Christianity  is  among  the  phenomena  of  the  East. 
Their  loyalty  to  the  British  Crown  is  of  the  most 
intense  description;    and  their  wealthy   men   have 
given  princely  sums   to   endow   hospitals   and   for 
other  public   purposes,   and  have   frequently  been 


'11 


V'-)| 

il 


i 


I:! 


128    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

knighted  for  their  great  liberality.'  These  are  the 
descendants  of  the  people  that  orte^  >uled  from 
Ethiopia  to  India  over  127  provinces.    (Esther  i.  i.) 

THE  ANCIENT  RELIGIONS  OF  ASIA  MINOR  AND 
CARTHAGE. 

In  dealing  with  that  portion  of  the  descendants  of 
Noah,  who  settled  to  the  westward  of  the  Euphrates, 
and  along  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  the 
rehgjon  of  the  Phoenicians  or  Canaanites  has  first 
to  be  considered.     Their  country  originally  extended 
northward   from  Mount  Carmel  along  the  Mediter- 
ranean for  about  120  miles,  with  an  average  breadth 
of  some  20  miles.    This  district  was  covered  by  a 
soil  of  the  most  fertile  description,  formed  partly 
by  alluvium  carried  downwards  by  perennial  streams 
flowing  from  the  mountain  region  to  the  east     Its 
twin  capitals  were  the  great  maritime  cities  of  Tyre 
and    Sidon.      The   Phoenicians  were  the    principal 
merchants,  ship-owners,  and  colonisers  of  the  ancient 
world;  and  their  mariners  were  not  only  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  African  and  European  coasts  of 
the  Mediterranean  but  also,  steering  by  the  pole  star, 
sailed  out  boldly  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  carried 
home  tin  from  the  mines  of  Cornwall  in  Wales. 
611  years  B.  c.    Pharaoh  Necho  sent  out  an  exploring 
Phoenician  expedition,  which  boldly  sailed  down  the 
African  coast,  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  from 
thence  to  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  and  up  the  Mediter- 
ranean.   All  the  seaboard  of  Africa  was  thus  circum- 
navigated, the  greatest  feat  of  ancient  seamanship. 
The   Phoenicians    founded   Carthage,  which,  under 
Hannibal,  contended  with  the  Romans  for  the  empire 
of  the  worid,  and  numerous  other  colonies  along  both 
sides  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  on  the  Atlantic 
coasts  to  the  right  and  left  of  Gibraltar.    Standing 

1  CanjP  and  Barrack  Room,  Chap.  XVIII.  dd  22^-217     S»«  ai^ 
Ency.  Brit,  Vol.  X  VIII.  p.  324.  for  Lditioni  ^o^till        '  '^ 


RELIGION  OF  CARTHAGE. 


,29 

aPTcL^crfJ^l^^^^^^^^^^^  t^'-n  the  art, 

they  were  great  in  com m  Jr.  "":?"*'  attainments, 
largeportioSofthetradTofP  '  "."1  "monopolised  a 
and  plfher  orientSf  Suntl^^-fti^"^'  ?*'*^'°"'^' 
mentioned  in  Old  Testamli^f  '»,•  .    ''^  *'*^  frequently 

who  reads  that  Wsto,^  kToJs  of  t^hTV  ""5  tX^r^  °"^ 
ing  between  David  and  ?ni««  ^  friendship  exist- 
Tyre,  and  of  the  imoortfn*  '"°"  ^""^  ^^'^  Kings  of 
the  latter  in  the  bulSp  of"lu^f  **"f  *^  '*^"dered  by 
The  religion  prSe/ bC  5*  **''"P/*^  *' J^'-"''^'^'" 
character^  necessaSrtxe^ii/"°P'*=  °^  ^^'^  ^igh 

among  surrounding  natTons'an/itJv"'.  '"^"""^" 
ornate  and  imposiW  n^ovJn  »  ♦  u'/"*''  **  °"" 
block  at  times^to  th^e  S  rac^"*^''  ^'"'"'*''"S- 

Pla^rnTr^U^^^r^^^^^^^^  Ph.nicia 

hgiously.      TTie  tA^o   tSc     ?  ^°''tically  and   re- 
PhilipKingof  MaJedonl/^   Hannibal's  oath  to 
Greek  histfrianTthe  rat?ert'?''?l^>'  ^^'y'^'"^.  a 
tu'y  B.  c.   namely   sun    mL„  °^  ?^  '**=°"d  <=«- 
meadows,  and  waters  ro-lf  ^fu'   ^"**  ^^^h,   rivers, 
which   al     Ph«S    rSfJ"  *^' '"***^"*' objects  on 
based.    RiveTZeLrtdfoZ  ""T^'P   *»«  th<^n 
desses.  mountains  LTrevSedi°h'-  """^  *°  &«<*- 
heaven,  and   meteoric  stones  te?e  J^f  """'"?  *° 
ajvine  messengers     Th^nU-r  ^  ^  '^^^'^  sacred  as 

njcian  mytholf|^was  the  s'"  Sl'^J^^  P°>*  '"  ^^*=- 
his  wife,  butif  rYgarSed  as  the  ^cir  ^fV^""  '"^^'^  ^^^ 
frequently  the  c^e  tK^«  lu  ^°f  °^  heaven,  as  was 
UnHketheE|ypUa;,a„d^5^^,«rth  became  his  w^e 

of  Ph«nicia  Sa  veA.  Hmfted  °"'^  Pantheons.  that 
tain  over  twenty  nameT  anH  .  *"'  ''"''  *^'^  "°t  con- 
duplicates  of  theTam;  ^t-t"  '°^*'  °^  *h«e  were 
Malkarth.  Moloch  A?o„k  n '*^-  5**''  Ashtoreth! 
El  Elium,  Baa°trs;  Onca  's??°"'  ^e'*""""'  Hadad 
Kabiri.  exhaust  ne;ri%^.f&-  tLlg'oJltlji 


] 


i  ft 

:   8. 


I30    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

deities.    From  Egypt,  Hammon  (Ammon)  and  Osir 
(Osiris)  were  borrowed.    Baal,  so  frequentiy  men- 
tioned in  the  Old  Testoment,  is  the  great  god  of  the 
Phcenicians;   and,  in  their  inscriptions,  is  lord  or 
master,  but  when  designated  as  Baal  Samin  he  is  lord 
of  heaven.     Baaltis(my  lady)  is  the  feminine  form 
of  Baal.    The  Kabiri  are  the  great  ones.    At  the 
head  of  all  their  divinities  stood  Baal  and  Ashtoreth, 
the  great  male  and  female  principles  of  existence. 
The  latter  was  chiefly  worshipped  at  Sidon  as  the 
moon  goddess.    But  more  commonly  she  was   re- 
garded as  a  nature  goddess,  or  the  great  mother  who 
presided  over  the  sexual  relations,  and  was  connected 
more  or  less  with  love  and  voluptuousness.    One  of 
her  titles  was  Queen  of  Heaven,  and  under  this  name 
she  was  frequently  worshipped  by  the  Israelites  (  see 
Jeremiah    vii.    i8).     The    Greeks    regarded    their 
Aphrodite,   and   the  Romans  their  Venus,  as    her 
equivalents.    Shamus,  the  sun  god,  was  borrowed  from 
the  Accadians,  and  the  goddess  Baaltis  from  the  Bab- 
ylonians.     It  appears  to  be  a  well-established  fact 
that  in  Phcenicia  itself,  and  also  in  Syria,  the  worship 
of  Ashtoreth,  like  that  of  Venus,  was  accompanied  by 
licentious  rites.     The  cult  of  the  great  nature  goddess 
tended  to  encourage  dissoluteness  in  the  relations  of 
the  sexes,  and  even  to  sanctify  impurities  of  the  most 
abominable  description.    In  Carthage  the  worship  of 
the  goddess  Thanith  prevailed,  and  was  distinguished 
by  the  same  impure  rites  as  that  of  the  goddess 
Ashtoreth  in  Phoenicia  and  Syria. 

Another  fearful  stigma  ort  the  religion  of  the 
Phoenicians,  not  only  in  their  native  country  but 
also  in  Carthage  and  elsewhere,  was  the  systematic 
offering  of  human  victims  to  El  and  oAer  gods. 
The  grounds  for  this  horrible  superstition  are  to  be 
found  in  the  words  addressed  by  Balak  to  Btdaam: 
"  Wherewith  shall  I  come  before  the  Lord,  and  bow 
myself  before  the  high  God?  Shall  I  give  my  first- 
born for  my  transgression,  the  fruit  of  my  body  for 


i; 


RELIGION  OF  CARTHAGE.  ,3, 

the  sin  of  my  soul?"    (Micah  vi  6   7^    "if 

avenging  deities  and  thlJ  „^  ?  ^  sacrifice  to  the 
mystically  "i     The  Phin*^'^'*'*''"'  ^"«  slaughtered 

under  the  pressure  ofJltJl^-  *^  ^°**  ^'  himself, 
his  only  s?n  Xn«l  h?if°'i"'y  P«"J'  had  taken 
him  on^the  altar  aSdste  l^^  ^yfl  attire,  placed 
Thenceforth  U  could  not  h^.r*r*i  '^^  °^"  ^^^n^. 

people,  when  sXTng  ;:if'':if,^^^^^^^  "r^'*='  *^^ 
or  pestilence,  or  drought  chofeh!  «  Kr  ^'  ^'■°'"  "'*'" 
those  persons  most  dfar  fn  ffc  ^  P^^''*=  """^^  °"«  ^^ 
to  El  or  SaturT  Two  hunj!!J'  ^"k.  '**^"^"^  h'*'" 
offered  in  sacrifice  at  r^^K^^r  "°'^*'  y°"*hs  were 
army  bj^^Agathocies  th^  ff^*"  '^^V-*^*'  *^^^"*  °f  its 
Sicily,  who^SouW  ie^^^^^  JhTtl^r^  °'  ^^^^^^  °f 
When  Tyre  found  iteelf",.  1!  Si'*'   '=l"*"'>''  »•  C 

the  assau'lts  of  A?ex?ntr'thi  cfeat  T^''  *°  '■•*^?'^' 
was  made,  but  overruled  fo«;.fi'  *l*  P'"oposition 
Every  year,  aj  Srthage,'  tt  e  was1t'le2;  n  ^'*""- 

Saturn,  at  CaSgV"he*tra"^^^^^^^     *'%'^?P'^  °^ 
stood  with  outstrefrLn  o        I      ""^Se  of  the  god 

offered  to   Tt     As   Lv  -n%*°/f.'''^%*^^  ^'"'dren 
would    have    mfde    ?he  '"=.":(^^t^t'°n  °f  reluctance 

mothers  qltcTjheir^nfanlsr    ""^^"P^^ble,    the 
4  'cut.a  ineir  infants  by  caresses  until  they 

»  Philo  Byb.,  Vol.  VI.  «ec.  3. 


If 


i'i'li 


I 


I  '■ 


i 


132    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

were  handed  over  to  the  image,  which  was  so  mechan- 
ically constructed  as  to  consign  whatever  it  received 
to  a  glowing  furnace  underneath  it    Inscriptions, 
discovered  in  recent  years  among  the  ruins  of  Ca^ 
thage,  record  the  offering  of  such  sacrifices.    They 
continued  even  after  the  Roman  conquest,  until  at 
length  the  proconsul  Tiberius,  in  order  to  effectually 
put  down  the  practice,  hanged  the  priests  of  these 
bloody  rites  on  the  trees  of  their  own  sacred  grove. 
But  while  these  public  human  sacrifices  were  thus 
brought  to  an  end,  the  rite,  for  a  long  period  after^ 
wards,  continued  to  be  still  practised  in  secret.    The 
Phoenicians  were  not  idolaters,  in  the  ordinary  sense 
of  the  term,  as  they  did  not  worship  images  of  their 
deities.    Like  other  imcient  nations   their   original 
knowledge  of  the  one  true  God,  which  they  no  doubt 
carried  with  them  from  Shinar,  first  faded  into  natur- 
worship,  and  finally  wholly  disappeared    into    the 
polytheistic  system  we  have  described.     In    their 
temples  public  worship  was  conducted   by  praise, 
prayer,  and  sacrifice.   Libations  of  wine  were  copiously 
poured  on  the  sacrifices,  which  usually  consisted  of 
animals,  and  incense  was  burned  in  lavish  profusion. 
Occasionally  efforts  were  made  to  influence  the  deity 
mvoked  by  loud  and  prolonged  cries,  and  even  by 
Mlf-inflicted  wounds  or  mutilation.  ( i  Kings  xviii.  26 ) 
Frequent  festivals  were  held  in  honour  of  their  divin- 
ities, especially  at  the  period  of  the  vernal  equinox. 
p«jspite  their  high  condition  of  civilisation,  the  re- 
ligion of  the  Phoenicians  was  one  of  the  lowest  and 
most  debasing  of  ancient  times,  combining  as  it  did 
gross  impurity  with  grta-,  cruelty;  and  tiie  sanction  of 
licentiousness  with  the  r<;<juirement  of  bloody  rites,  at 
once  revolting  to  the  human  conscience,  and  destruc- 
tive o.  any  right  apprehension  of  the  true  idea  of 
God.* 

Ancient  Syria  extended  from  the  eastern  shore  of 


REUGION  OF  CARTHAGE.  ,jj 

the  empires  of  Western  A.la  ««  .k  ***"'«""e'd  for 
those  oFEgypt  and  AfricTo^'tS:  ithe?"*I^\"1-  '^"'^ 
was  borrowed  laraely  from  PkL«j  •  S*  ^hgion 
had  its  lord  BaaJ  and  »??-/  ?"'f.'**  ^^•'V  »»•" 
There  were!  also  E!La^*^^?""*°''  Ashtbreth. 

other  deities.  amingw^om^was'^Rl™"''"'  '"u^  ^*"°"» 
man  told  E  isha  wm  hu^        R'mmon,  whom  Naa- 

were  not  however  at  all  excSTi^S^  t  ^^^K 
worship,  and   at  the  i»fZ.j '",*"*"■  ^''J^cts  of 

when  the  Hebrews   unH^JuP**^^^  »t°"*  *h«  ««« 

also  entere^fn  rthe^^d  ifVr^'?^ 

handsome   brown  ^S  i  ^*"!f"-    They  were  a 

Phanicians.  t^radfrnH  J    *'  ***^°**'*'  ""^^    *»»« 
culture   and    wcSSefi  "h    ^'v*'";^^  '"  »*""** 

surpassed  the  He^J";iioP°^*'^*J  institution,  far 
colonies  alone  the  ?«r«».*  ^^'**'>'  ^°""«^  strong 
the  interior  ?ou„tVTx^Sdira/°'"^  ^"**''^*  '"*° 
due  west  of  JerMafem  •  5  '^""lu*  P°J"*  ""^'^ 
Egyptian  desert  TheiT'  ch^^f  *°"th^ard  to  the 
Askelon.  AshdoS.  Ekron  and  SatT'Vr^^V  ^"^"' 
government  was  a  confed^racv  »? Ik    P'V'  1°'''"  °^ 

powerTftSdrfl;?!.'?  "\7  '>'g!>««  point  of 


tMtaocOn  MBOIUTION  TBT  CHAIT 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


11.25 


itt 

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leSJ  East  Main  StfMt 

Rochytlw.  Nm  Yofk       t4«09      USA 

(716)  482  -  0300  -  Ption. 

(7t6)  28a  -  Mas  -  rat 


t;' 


I  J 


X34    VHE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

were  soon  humbled  by  severe  defeats  =r.A  u 

vassals   and    tributarie-T     T^  •         • '  ^"^ ''^"'"^  ^'s 

Dagon,  half  man  haKfi;h.i,T  ?"u"''P^'   ^^^    ^^^ 

evid%ntV  beTn  bor  owed'  fr'm  th^/ Ph°''^'''"^°  ^'"^ 
their  great  goddess      H«iu  u  ^  I'J'anicians,  was 

of  Ekfon  (2  KS"i  ^)  and  ?  ^^  ?^  *='''^^  g^'' 
attached  to  his  "mple  there  S  '  ^'T"^  °''"^'« 
god  Mama  (our  brd)    who  .1  worshipped  the 

circular  temole  anH  h^H  .  ?'^°  ^^^^  °''^<='«  in  a 
offered  to  S  '  Ashtorlr'  *'^",'^""'an  sacrifices 
shioDed  as  ^  fici,  ^7i°'^«"''  or  Ashtoreth,  was  wor- 
te  T  he?  worshTo  I'Sh"'  '^'"'°"'  ''"^  ^^e  charac- 
not  knowi^TS^kin  of'JSe  '^vFr\^  °'  °*^^^*'^^'  '« 

ination  is  alluded  to  in  llath  H  6  ::"h  T'''  L"  ^•^- 
of  oracles  fnr«,Li       i  ^=?'^"  "•  o.  and  the  renderne 

shrini  wZihe  S?  •■"'"■■'  <•/  ">'''  «"Pl^ 
they  carried  w"thth,™;t"^'  "'"'=''=''  '<>  '-««=. 
an  L„"„1e  .^fvcX*,'  'T;"e=^  »'  *«■•  B°*.  as 

an^?s'raeT  ci^IH'"°"';^T'  ^^"'^^^"  °f  Lo*'  «nd  Edom 
four  HehL^  ^^"  of  Isaac,  constitute  the  group  of 
Ar/h;  T^P^^P'^^  ^^°  had  issued  from  the  W 
t1^e  land  ^^Z'^^'-''^^^'  ^"d  settled  at  different  timef^ 
the  one  true^  GoT'   Tl^^  ""  .rS'"^">'  worshipped 

was  §^^<^^'^:.i!.^'i^sz^i:!^ 
was%h'e%Cf'v/r'"K^°'.^  .°^  -h-h  ch:rsh' 

oftha^^X^Th'arM^^^^^^ 

Bo^kotkrh '"."  l""  ^•'^  pathetic  pasfal:  '„"  he 
iiook  of  Ruth,  which  so  touchingly  describes  the  in! 


RELIGION   OF  CARTHAGE.  ,35 

.hey  lifted  up  S  J^icfa" d  :^;.  aS*  Zo'^'t 
sorely  pressed  by  the  arm/ if  S'  ,'^  fh"^'" 

re%»i'  £.£iilSr  f •  r 

wall   of  his  caoital    /n  fn      •     '°  Chemosh  on  the 
"AnHfKo       "P"^''  »n   full   view  of  his    besieeers 

tht  detrterfZ'h-'"''^."^*'°"  ^S^'"^*  Israel  ^aid 
lanJ/'T/K^^sTi'e'^T)  "'""''  -to  their  own 

sur^^uTclld  Vnl;/;vTide'r '?!"'  ^^^  ^^-^"^^^  ^^re 

ployed  inVaWnglf  thSrP^'''/''''"?"''*'^'  ™- 
loch."  f2Kmesxira  .S    I  ""^"."gh  the  lire  to  Mo- 

Fathe..  the^-^TnllTr*;,*!?^ 


136    THE   SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

pestilence,  and  war.     When  sore  affliction   brought 
them  back  to  repentance,  and  they  cried  unto  God 
lor  dehverance,  he  invariably  came  to  their  assistance, 
with  wonderful  mercy  and  pity,  and  punished  their 
oppressors.     In  the  ancient  world  national  sins  led 
to  national  punishment  at  God's  hands ;  individual  sins 
to  individual  punishment,  and  precisely  as  is  the  case 
to-day.     When  we  carefully  read  Old  Testament  his- 
tory concurrently  with  that  of  contemporary  nations, 
nothing  can  strike  us  more  forcibly  than  the  wonder- 
tul  goodness,  patience,  and  mercy  of  God,  and  his 
constant  evident  purpose  to  preserve  the  Jews,  despite 
all  their  backslidings,  as  his  peculiar  people;  so  that 
the  promised  Messiah,  to  regenerate  a  lost  worid,  could 
still  arise  from  them.     No  matter  how  wide  was  their 
apostasy  from  their  ancient  faith,  or  how  largely  they 
surrendered  themselves  to  the  idolatrous  practices  of 
the  surrounding  heathen,  the  light  of  the  one  true 
«fu    '^l^.PT'^''  "'^^"y  extinguished  amongst  them. 
When  thjah  complained  that  he  alone  was  left  in 
Israel  of  the  servants  of  the  Most  High,  he  was  told 
by  his  Divine  Master  that  there  were  still  left  to  him 
seven  thousand   in   Israel  who  had  not  bo   ed  the 

u^  '°,,  ^^^y  ('  ^'"e^  ^«-  »8.)  And  even  now 
When  all  their  ancient  heathen  oppressors  have  for- 
ever disappeared  from  the  world's  stage,  and  left 
little  but  dim  memories  behind  them,  they  still  exist 
as  a  people,  bow  down  before  the  God  of  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  remain  with  us  a  perpetual  liv- 
ing monument  of  his  mercy  and  goodness. 


■'»  i 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  ANCIENT  RELIGIONS  OF  GREECE  AND  ROME. 

Our  necessarily  brief  review  of  the  religions  of  the 
Uibhcal  nations  of  the  ancient  world  would  be  in- 
complete, without  a  sketch  of  the  creeds  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  which  occupied  such  a  prominent  place 
m  the   centuries  immediately  preceding  the  Chris- 
tian era.  These  creeds,  however,  presented  somewhat 
different  aspects.  The  religion  of  Greece  was  brighter 
and  more  joyous  in  its  character  than  that  of  Rome 
which  was  grosser,  more  severe,  and  certainly  more 
cruel.   A  hcentious  and  degrading  element  was  present 
alike  in  both,  in  the  worship  of  Aphrodite  in  Greece 
and  of  her  counterpart,  Venus,  in  Rome,  where  one  of 
the  grandest  temples  of  its  great  capital  was  dedicated 
to  the  worship  of  the  latter  goddess.     Again,  both 
religions  sanctioned  human   sacrifices.     Taken  as  a 
whole  the  religion  of  ancient  Greece  may  be  described 
as  a  worship  of  nature,  in  some  of  the  various  forms  it 
presented  to  the  senses  of  mankind.    Most  of  its  deities 
corresponded,  says  Bishop  Thirwall,i  either  to  certain 
parts  of  the  sensible  world,  or  to  a  certain  class  of 
objects  comprehended  under  abstract  notions.    Placed 
m  a  region  at  once  beautiful,  and  varied  in  its  natural 
perspective,  and  in  strong  sympathy  with  the  physical 
world  around  him,  the  lively  Greek  became  deeply 
conscious  of  his  wonderful  environments.  The  teeming 
earth,  the  vivifying  sun,  the  restless  sea,  the  irresistible 
storm,  the  lightning  of  heaven,  the  motion  of  growth 

I  History  of  Greece,  Vol.  I.  p.  217. 


?  i 


Mi 


;;i 


'^^1 


I 


r  f 


138    THE   SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

of  every  description,  impressed  his  mind  with  a  sense 
of  the  amazing  activity  of  all  the  forms  of  nature, 
which  he  learned  to  recognise  as  the  agencies  of 
mysterious  and  unseen  lyings,  endued  with  life, 
volition,  and  design.  For  him  nature  was  peopled  with 
a  countless  multitude  of  those  invisible  powers,  some 
inhabiting  the  earth,  some  the  heavens,  some  the  sea, 
some  the  dark  and  dreadful  regions  beneath  the 
earth,  to  which  the  brightest  rays  of  the  sun  could 
not  penetrate.  Of  such  beings,  as  Grote  observes, 
there  were  numerous  varieties  both  in  power  and 
number,  differences  of  age,  sex,  and  local  residence ; 
relations  both  conjugal  and  filial,  sympathetic  as  well 
as  repugnant.^  The  great  Olympic  gods  stood  at  the 
head  of  the  Grecian  pantheon.  Below  them  were 
ranged  innumerable  demons,  heroes,  nymphs,  and 
genii,  identified  with  earth,  river,  mountain,  cape, 
town,  village,  or  territory.  Every  brook  had  its  wa- 
ter nymph,  every  fountain  its  naiad,  wood  nymphs 
peopled  every  glade  and  forest  dell,  and  air  gods 
revelled  in  every  zephyr  and  breeze.  Thirty  thousand 
minor  gods,  guardian  demons,  and  spirits  of  departed 
heroes,  veiled  from  human  eye,  constantly  moved 
about  the  earth,  watching  the  deeds  of  men,  and  dis- 
pensing weal  or  woe.' 

At  the  head  of  all  the  vast  phalanx  of  Grecian  gods 
and  goddesses  stood  the  great  Zeus,  the  one  father  of 
gods  and  men.  When  we  ascend  to  the  more  distant 
heights  of  Greek  history,  the  idea  of  one  God,  the 
supreme  being,  stands  before  us  as  a  simple  fact.' 
Zeus,  says  an  ancient  Greek  poet,  is  the  beginning, Zeus 
is  the  middle,  out  of  Zeus  have  all  things  been  made. 
Zeus  bears  to  man  the  relation  of  a  father.  Each 
mortal  who  has  a  supplication  may  address  him 
as  God,  father.  As  St.  Paul  said,  quoting  a  Greek 
poet,  we   are   his   offspring.     (Acts  xvii.  28.)     Po- 

1  Grote's  History  of  Greece,  Vol.  I.  p.  463. 
*  Ibid.    Thirwall's  Greece,  Vol.  I.  p.  235. 
»  Max  Muller's  Chips,  Vol.  II.  p.  148. 


w 


RELIGION  OF  ANCIENT  GREECE.    139 

seidon,  in  Greek  mythology,  is  the  god  of  the  sea, 
Apollo  the  god  of  music,  Ares  the  god  of  passion, 
cruel,  lawless,  and  greedy  of  blood,  Hephaestes  the 
god  of  fire,  Hermes  the  man  of  business,  and  messenger 
of  the  gods.  Hera,  the  wife  of  Zeus,  is  queen  of  heaven, 
proud,  jealous,  and  bitter,  according  to  Grote ;  *  cruel, 
vindictive,  and  unscrupulous,  according  to  Glad- 
stone."  Athene  is  the  goddess  of  wisdom,  art,  and 
household  industry;  Artemis  the  goddess  of  the 
hunting  field  and  the  chase.  Aphrodite  is  the  counter- 
part of  the  Phoenician  goddess  Ashtoreth,  and  the 
Roman  goddess  Venus.  Frail  herself  and  the  persist- 
ent stirrer  up  of  frailty  in  others ;  deceitful,  treacher- 
ous, shrinking  from  the  least  touch  of  pain,  she  repels 
the  moral  sentiments  with  a  force  almost  equal  to 
that  wherewith  she  attracts  the  sensuous  animal 
nature.  That  the  Greek  pantheon  should  contain  a 
goddess  of  this  degraded  character  was  alike  repre- 
hensible and  debasing.     Bad  men  and  women  could 

jlead,  in  extenuation  of  their  offences  against  moral 

aw  and   their  higher  nature,  the   divine  example. 

^estia    is  the    goddess   of   the   hearth  and   home. 

Demeter,  the  earth  mother,  is  the  goddess  of  agricul- 
ture. These  were  the  twelve  great  deities  of  the 
Greek  pantheon  —  six  male  and  six  female.  They 
were  all  alike  human  in  their  character  and  attributes, 
and  even  Zeus  had  faults  and  tailings,  and  was  in 
addition  a  polygamist.  Below  them  ranged  a  vast 
number  of  minor  gods  and  goddesses.  The  worship 
which  the  ancestors  of  the  Greeks  had  brought  with 
them  from  the  common  cradle  of  the  human  race  in 
Asia,  was  that  of  the  heaven  father  —  the  unseen  father 
who  dwells  in  ether,  whose  temple  is  the  sky,  and 
whose  altar  is  most  fitly  raised  on  the  mountain  top. 
This  idea  was  reproduced  in  Zeus,  to  whom  the 
Achilles  of  Homer  prays.'  But  the  Greeks,  like  all  the 

1  Grote's  History  of  Greece,  Vol.  I.  p.  5a 
*  Homer  and  Homeric  Age,  Vol.  II.  p.  196. 
«  Ency.  Brit.,  Vol.  XI.  p.  91. 


;  !■ 
l! 


■'  % 


'i!i 


il 


MO    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

other  heathen  nations  of  antiquity,  gradually  departed 
from  their  original  simple  belief,  and  adopted  a  more 
complex  system  of  worship,  in  which  even  human 
sacrifices  were  recognised,  and  resorted  to  in  times  of 
great  calamity  Even  as  late  as  the  period  of  Solon, 
the  Athenian  law-giver,  612  years  B.C.,  a  human  sacri- 
hce  forthe  sins  of  the  nation  was  offered  at  intervals 
to  the  gods  at  Athens. 

Of  all  the  nations  of  antiquity,  Greece  occupied  the 
toremost  place,  not  only  as  regards  its  love  of  liberty. 
Its  heroism  and  gallantry  in  war;  but  also  as  regards 
science,  literature,  and  the  arts.     Its  civilisation  has 
left  Its  impress  on  the  world  for  all  time;  and  if  ever 
there  were  an  ancient  people,  who  should  have  held 
their  own,  m  later  periods,  in  the  ranks  of  the  human 
race  tfiey  were  unquestionably  that   people.     But 
their  Pagan  creed  had,  within  its  own  bosom,  the 
germs  of  national  decay  and  ruin ;  and  the  Spartan 
virtues  of  its  heroic  day  gradually  disappeared  with 
the  passing  centuries,  until  at  length  the  Christian 
era  rises  upon  an  effeminate  and  degenerate,  pleasure- 
loving,  gossiping  race,  distinguished  for  its  vices  more 
than  for  its  virtues.     The  city  of  Corinth,  situated  on 
an  isthmus  between  the  ^gean  and  Adriatic  seas, 
was  the  great  centre  of  ancient  Greek  commerce 
and  the  mart  of  the  world.    It  was  pre-eminent  among 
all  the  cities  of  that  day  for  its  wealth,  luxury,  and 
dissipation;    and  was  the   Paris  of  antiquity     The 
great  urban  centres  of  population,  in  ancient  times, 
were  usually  devoted  to  the  worship  of  some  god  or 
goddess,  who  was  supposed  to  be  their  special  pro- 
tector.    Babylon  had  its  Bel-Merodach.  Ephesus  its 
Diana,  Athens  its  Athene.    So  Corinth  had  its  Venus, 
in  whose  honour  a  superb  temple  had  been  erected 
on  a  mountain  half  a  mile  high,  to  the  south  of  the 
ci!y,  which  commanded  a  magnificent  view  in  all  direc- 
tions.    Its  sides  were  covered  with  the  fine  mansions 
of  wealthy  Corinthians,  and  by  numerous  minor  tern- 
pies  dedicated  to  various  deities,  but  high  above  all 


RELIGION   OF  ANCIENT  GREECE.    141 

rose  the  great  temple  of  Venus.     It  was  enjoined  by 
law  that  one  thousand  beautiful  females  should  offi- 
ciate as  public  courtesans  before  her  altar.     In  times 
of  public  calamity  and  imminent  danger  to  the  state, 
these  degraded  women  attended  at  the  temple  sacri- 
fices, and  walked   in  solemn  procession  with  other 
citizens,  singing    sacred  hymns.     When   Xeixes   in- 
vaded Greece  recourse  was  had  to  their  intervention, 
to  avert  the  impending  calamity.     They  were  sup- 
ported chiefly  by  foreigners,  who  came  on  business 
to  the  city,  and  by  the  vast  crowds  of  dissolute  men 
and  pleasure-seekers  who  resorted  to  the  Isthmian 
Games,  which   always  drew  numbers  of  sight-seers 
from  other  countries,  far  and  near.     The  state  was 
not  ashamed  to  avail  itself  of  the  profits  made  by  its 
degraded  band  of  courtesans ;   and  Corinth  drew  a 
large  annual  revenue  from  this  source.    Foreign  mer- 
chants were   not   infrequently   stripped  of  all   their 
property,  by  consorting  too  freely  and  unguardedly 
with  Corinthian  courtesans,  but  were  unable  to  obtain 
any  redress  from  the  authorities  of  the  city.     Such 
was  the  dissolute  soil   in  which  the  Apostle   Paul, 
about  A.  D.  52,  founded  one  of  the  principal  Chris- 
tian churches,  and  where  he  preached  the  gospel  for 
eighteen  months  with  great  success,  first  to  the  Jews, 
who  rejected  his  ministry,  and  afterwards  to  the  Greeks. 
(Acts   xviii.    2.)     The   pure    religion  of   the    cross 
gradually  brought  the  dissolute  worship  of  Venus  into 
di.:repute ;  and  as  the  knowledge  of  the  simple  gospel 
of  Christ  spread  more  and  more  widely,  the  mythol- 
ogy of  ancient  Greece,  with   its  vast   pantheon  of 
gods  and  goddesses,  became  dimmer  and  dimmer  as 
the  world  rolled  onwards,  and,  finally,  as  a  practical 
force,  entirely  faded  outof  sight.*   According  to  Plato 
this  fate  was  well  merited.    Their  gods  and  goddesses, 
from  Zeus  to  Venus,  had  set  a  bad  example  to  the 
Greeks,  and  if  their  divinities  were  angered  by  their 

»  For  further  information  as  to  the  condition  of  Corinth  at  the 
Chnstian  era,  see  Barnes'  Notes  on  New  Testament. 


Pti 


;  f 


'"ll 


M 


:^ 


143    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

a"'p^ase  "tti^T  ^'^'''''i  ^^^^  »  ^^^^  offering,  would 
the^/rLl.  •  J"'''"^  ^^^  offenders  free  to  repeat 
mrquityT"'  ""'  *°  ^•■°*  "^°'«  -"d  more  har3e"eS  fn 

THE  RELIGION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 

and  not  permit  it  to  be  ever  extinffuished     Thli 
was  no  image  in  the  Temple  of  vfsta  ««;  ZT 
most  ancient  ?^  Rome.  theXnal  fi)l'S„g"^^^^^^^^^ 
as  symbohsing  her  sufficiently.    Ceres  waf  thfanS^ 
dess  of  agriculture,  and  Saturn  its  sod     ThJ^lS^' 

CT3:«  "^".""SD^na-    Hercules  was  the  god  of  oroDertv 
gam  and  busmess  good-faith.     He  had  noSles' 

»  Plato's  Republic,  Vol.  II.  sec.  17. 


RELIGION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME.       143 

fice  to  him.    When  Greek  mythology  became  known 
•  1!  n  '^?'"*"^'  Neptune  was  completely  identified 
with  Poseidon,  Amphitrite  then  became  his  wife,  and 
the  Nereids  his  companions. 

Below  the  twelve  great  gods  of  Rome  came  nu- 
merous mmor  deities,  of  different  grades  of  consid- 
eratior..     As  its  conquests  spread,  the  gods  of  the 
conquered  nations  were  usually  added  to  the  national 
pantheon,  where  its  emperors   also  eventually  found 
a  place,  and  came  to   be  worshipped  as  divinities. 
The  worship  of  the  principal  gods  was  specially  pro- 
vided for  by  the  state,  which  established  salaried  priest- 
hoods to  secure  the  continual  rendering  of  the  honour 
due  to  each.    In  addition  there  were  four  large  colleges 
of  priests,  whose  duty  it  was  to  regulate  the  calendar, 
sacred  and  profane,  to  fix  the  date  of  all  festivals, 
and  pass  final  judgment  on  all  prodigies  and  omens. 
The  Augurs,  another  priestly  college,  were  the  public 
diviners,  who  foretold  events  from  the  flights  of  birds, 
the  feeding  of  the  sacred  chickens,  and  natural  phe- 
nomena, such  as  thunder  and  lightning.     They  exer- 
cised a  wide  social  and  political  influence,  and  the 
office  was  much  sought  after.    The  Fetials  constituted 
a  college  devoted  to  the  consideration  of  law  and 
right,  to  treaty  obligations,  and  to  the  proclamation 
of  war.     They  slew  the  victims  which  gave  a  sacred 
character  tc  treaties.     The  two  Duumviri  were  the 
keepers,  consulters,  and  interpreters  of  the  Sibylline 
Books,  of  which  we  hear  so  frequently  in  Roman  his- 
tory.    These  books  were  a  collection  of  pretended 
prophecies,  written  in  Greek,  and  no  doubt  derived 
from  a  Greek  source.     It  was  customary  to  consult 
the  Sibylline  Books  in  cases  of  pestilence,  or  of  any 
unusual  prodigy,  and  to  scrupulously  follow  the  ad- 
vice they  were  supposed  to  give  in  reference  to  the 
occasion  which  had  arisen.     All  the  great  officers  of 
the  state  were  inducted  into  their  posts  with  religious 
solemnities,  and  were  bound  to  attend  and  take  their 
part  in  certain  processions  and  sacrifices.     In  times 


r 


n 


'I  ' 


IP 


•44    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

favour  of  the  cods  or  t!  f  u  ^"^"  *°  "<="f«--  the 
withstandinTalf  their  ..T?  *''",'^  ?""*''•  ''"^  "ot" 
adhered  wit'h  l^n^^  J?";;/;;^^^^^  Romans 

that  the  priest  should  r?ma  fpoweries  t  fh?';^  "' 
and  must  render  obedience  to  thlT  u?  *"*^  '*^**' 
trate  and  the  law.'  ^''^^  humblest  magi^ 

it  was  with  a  sort  Wf  .l,..jj       .1""  '°  "  hereafter 

rehgion  at  anv  time  tn«t,  «  j        ^  i  °®y-     ^'  his 

nection  wifh  th^V  »  •  ^  "^^JP"  '°'''"  '*  ^as  in  con- 

s-dde„„  ^,adT?t.1p^-^-^■',TetS^f- 

'  ''^lommsen's  History  of  Rome.  Vol.  I.  p.  ,80. 


RELIGION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME.      ,45 

hung  in  suspense,  or  turned  against  the  warrior  «•,♦:„- 
a  sense  of  guilt  aro«r.  and  pres«d  heavfly  ^n  he  Duwfc 

hJ.™        '  ^"**  4?.^'^'"*^  wrath  must  be  appeased 

by  thT'saSe  of  Tt".  T'l  °"'>'  ^  acconfpSel 
♦«  f  k  •  sacrifice  of  that  which  was  best  and  dearest 

uffit'lndThe  f"  t'^\Ty  "^'"^  vic?im  would 
be  a  larger  JLk"'''  r"°*  '^^  P'"*^"^*^^  ^here  must 
rlJ.  \l^  l"'"J**i''  °^  P"5°"«  offered  up  to  ap- 
Srds  iu'mT*^  °  •i*'*'  ^u°^»-  T**""  ^^  »ee,  tSat  as  re- 
o^t^Xn^ttS-;^  not 

x:  ^a^tsTSr  --  o^  PH-^ct  :idtf 

of  ^he'^Rolll'V''"- "^.''°''^  "  '^^'^  I^*=<="n«  and  Fall 
ot  tne  Roman  Empire,"  attributes  its  decadence  to 

he  progress  of  Christianity.  This  no  doSbfwL  true 
n^h.?'"V''*";'  ^"*'  *t  '^^  '^^^  time,  theTe  were 
aid  falTfn'""'''  r'""  P.^'*^"*  ""»"•  f°^  that  decTne 
hoti,  •  "i^P^'l^'^"-,  ^^^  "f«f"'  student  of  history! 
both  sacred  and  profane,  cannot  fail  to  rea  ise  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent,  the  lesson  which  it  so  con- 
stantly teaches  us,  that  God  from  the  very  firs  raised 
duct  a^H^f '^  l!?*'^"''  '"  ?«°rdance  with  their  con- 
nezzar  fi  ^",  °"'"  "^'^^  Purposes.  Nebuchad- 
r^^  !['     '  ^'^ample,  was  raised  up  to  punish  Eevpt 

sHdini,'  TT  °^  ^''t  M'"°^  f°'  their  many  b^?! 
accirS'n.l°  .^^^troy  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  in 
accordance  with  prophecy,  and  to  carry  the  principal 
Jews  into  captivity.  In  accordance  2ith  p?ophe?y 
also.  Cyrus  was  subsequently  elevated  to  the  hiS 
pinnacle  of  power  to  punish  Babylonia  for  ite  siSs 
Jews  to'thei:*'  ^".<='r Jdolatrous  cJeed,  to  restore  the 
i7.J  ?  *"'=."'"*  ^o'"^'  ^'^^  the  prophetic  period 
JrZT^  years'  captivity  had  been  fulfilled,  and  °o 
the  saS'  '■^^toration  of  the  temple  at  Jerusai;m.  In 
the  same  way,  the  Roman  Empire  wi  raised  up  to 

imfoS^tior""""'*  "R^'iPo^of  the  Ancient  World"  for  fuller 

10 


1 

i 
r  In 

;i   1 

*       il 

i                11  IM 

V     ,J 

I   i         .tam 

I: 

'  ''iM 

i 

*M 

iyBk 

fi?i 


I  ;l 


I4C    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE, 
consolidate  the  nations  into  one  great  state,  of  one 

Sar"e  '^e'"wVT*^r'"'°"^  ^^  P^°P^«'  ^^  thus  pre! 
pare  the   way  for  the  spread   of  Christianitv    tht- 

progress  of  which  otherwise  must  have  been^much 

zv  ^^  ""^^^^y  ™°''^  difficult 

P,o!„  "  f-  ^H^^^^'^  ^'^  ^^''''^^  "Pon  the  world  the 
Pagan  religion  of  Rome  had  already  demonstrated  its 

oornt'°7'ti'  '^""'■''  ^r  ^.">°"»  ^"d  nationaf  stand! 
£rol'  . ",  ^^  generally   dissolute    habits  which   it 
promoted,  both  as  regards  public  and  private  life 
and  m  the  germs  of  weakness  and  decay  which  had! 

Losom  Th??.'?.  n  *''"^'  ^''°r  "P  ^'*'"  'ts  own 
nwT:  fll  ?  ^^^'i  ^^""  ^^^  ^'■awn  an  eloquent 
Khe  RnmJn  ^^^''^de^^^r^  and  political  condition 
of  the  Roman  Empire  at  this  period  —  a  picture  most 
amply  illustrated  by  its  own  writers.  "  The  epo^h  » 
he  says,  "  which  witnessed  the  early  growth  of  Chrl 
taanity  was  an  epoch  of  which  the  horror  and  deJra- 

excee^denTn'ir^^  ^T  ;^""""^'  ^"^  perhaps  never 
exceeded,  m  the  annals  of  mankind.    Were  we  to  form 
our  sole  estimate  of  it  from  the  lurid  picture  of  iS 
wickedness  which  St.  Paul,  in  more  than  one  passage 
has  painted  with  a  few  powerful  strokes,  we  St 

sSn'  ?^*  J"  ^"'L^  J"'^g'"g  •*  fro*"  too  loft^  a 
dirk  ?  f  ^  ^'  ""'^^^^  ^*=*^"^ed  of  throwing  too 
we  se?  !^^tZ  -.P^"  .?'  ,'"'""^  °^  Paganism,  when 
But  even  .•?<;;  p'^  i^u  ?^  '"'*''^  °^  ^"  '^e^'  holiness. 
;Jl«r^  ?'•  ^«"'  ??**  "^^er  paused,  amid  his  sacred 
reasonings,  to  affix  his  terrible  brand  upon  the  pride 

oJoofs  ofX'  *K  *■"  """"f^  ?*i"  ^^^«  ^^en  abundant 
IZtli  L  5  !?"°""H  *'ekedness  which  accom- 
panied the  decadence  of  ancient  civilisation.  Thev 
are  stamped  upon  its  coinage,  cut  on  its  gems,  painted 
upon  Its  chamber  walls,  sown  broadcast  over  the  paRes 
of  Its  poets,  satirists,  and  historians.  '  Out  of  thine 
own  mouth  will  I  judge  thee,  thou  wicked  servait/ 

fi^.n^''"'-  ^^-^  ^l  ^\^'^  ^"y  ^Se  which  stands  so 
instantly  condemned,  by  the  bare  mention  of  its 
rulers,  as  that  which  recalls  the  successive  names  of 


RELIGION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME.       147 

relics  of  Pompeu  and   Herculaneum»  the  satire/ of 

J^assius?  And  yet  even  below  this  lowest  deep  there 

L   T^!u^^^?'  ^°'*  "°*  ^^«"  in  their  dark  pafcs  are 
the   depths  of  satire  so  shamelessly  laid   E   to 

R^tejS^Sl^3j:S^-;^>-He 

recoSn  !^J  J^!^   '  *"?  towards  whom  none  had  any 
delrfSation  to  ?'  ^^°  PT«<J  ^^om  a  childhood  o^f 

coftemp    and  to  Sf "nl^^  °^  ^^''^^^'P  ^^^   «°<='^ 
OnlvT  ijAit  u  "  °'f  ^Se  of  unpitied   neglect 

Shit      ^  '^'^^  ^^°^^  t'^^  slaves  stood  the  lower  or 

of   thl^V  i,?.-     ,     ^°''"'"  °''  '"  attending  the  llvees 


U:^l 


iii 


'i: 

i  iij 

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•i'^H^^^I 

;,''W^^ 

SB 

148    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


devoted  to  gossip  at  the  public  baths ;  their  evenings 
in  enjoying  the  polluted  free  plays  at  the  theatres;  or 
in  looking  on,  with  fierce  thrills  of  delight,  at  the 
bloody  gladiatorial  or  other  spectacles  of  the  arena. 
At  night  they  crept  up  to  their  miserable  garrets,  in 
the  sixth  and  seventh  storeys  of  the  tenement  houses 
of  Rome,  of  which  there  were  44,000,  into  which,  as 
in  the  low  lodging-houses  of  Europe  and  America  to- 
day, there  drifted  all  that  was  most  wretched  and  most 
vile.  Their  lives  were  largely  made  up  of  squalor, 
misery,  and  vice.  Out  of  the  great  population  of 
Rome,  the  proprietors  of  its  real  estate  scarcely 
numbered  2000. 

Immeasurably  removed  from  the  condition  of  these 
needy  freemen,  living  in  the  greatest  luxury  among 
crowds  of  corrupt  and  obsequious  slaves,  stood  the 
now  constantly  diminishing  class  of  the  wealthy  and 
the  noble.  Every  age  of  the  world,  in  the  decline  of 
some  one  of  its  peoples,  has  exhibited  the  spectacle  of 
selfish  luxury  side  by  side  with  abject  poverty;  and 
never  were  these  contrasts  so  startling  as  in  imperial 
Rome.  There  the  great  majority  of  the  population 
might  be  trembling  with  fear  lest  they  should  be 
starved  by  the  delay  of  one  of  the  huge  grain  ships 
from  Egypt,  the  granary  of  Rome ;  while  the  upper 
classes  were  squandering  fortunes  at  a  single  banquet, 
drinking  out  of  jewelled  vases,  worth  hundreds  of 
dollars,  or  feasting  on  the  brains  of  peacocks  or  the 
tongues  of  nightingales.  As  a  consequence  of  these 
excesses  disease  was  rife.  Men  were  short-lived,  and 
even  women  suffered  from  the  gout.  Over  a  large 
part  of  Italy  the  free-born  population  were  only  half 
clad  even  in  the  winter.  Yet  at  this  period  the  dresses 
of  Roman  ladies  of  wealth  were  magnificent  in  a 
grandeur  almost  beyond  conception.  The  Elder 
Pliny  tells  us  that  he  saw  Lollia  Paulina  dressed  for 
a  betrothal  feast  in  a  robe  entirely  covered  with  pearls 
and  emeralds,  which  had  cost  over  forty  million 
sesterces,  (about  two  million  dollars,)  and  which  was 


-1 


RELIGION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME.      149 

known  to  be  less  costly  than  some  of  her  other  dresses. 
Gluttony,  caprice,  extravagance,  ostentation,  impurity, 
rioted  in  the  heart  of  Patrician  society,  which  knew  of 
no  other  means  to  break  the  monotony  of  its  weari- 
ness, or  alleviate  the  anguish  of  its  despair.  At  the 
summit  of  the  whole  decaying  system  —  elevated 
high  above  the  highest,  yet  living  in  constant  dread 
of  the  lowest,  oppressing  a  population  which  he 
terrified,  and  terrified  by  a  population  which  he  ruth- 
lessly oppressed,  stood  an  emperof  raised  to  the 
highest  pinnacle  of  divine  autocracy,  yet  conscious 
that  his  life  hung  upon  a  thread  —  the  dagger  of  the 
assassin,  and  whom  Gibbon  tersely  but  terribly  de- 
scribed as  at  once  a  priest,  an  atheist,  and  a  god. 

The  general  condition  of  Roman  society  was  such 
as  could  only  be  expected  from  these  degrading 
elements.  The  Romans  had  entered  into  a  state  of 
fatal  degeneracy  from  the  first  day  of  their  close 
relations  with  Greece.  Rome  learned  from  Greece 
its  voluptuous  corruption.  Greece  learned  from 
Rome  its  coldblooded  cruelty.  Family  life  among 
the  Romans  had  once  been  a  sacred  relation,  and  for 
520  years  divorce  had  been  unknown  amongst  them. 
Under  the  empire  marriage  soon  came  to  be  regarded 
with  disfavour  and  disdain.  "Women,"  as  Seneca 
says,  "married  in  order  to  be  divorced  and  were 
divorced  in  order  to  marry  again ;  and  noble  Roman 
matrons  counted  the  years  not  by  the  consuls,  but 
by  their  discarded  or  discarding  husbands."  To  have 
a  family  was  regarded  as  a  misfortune.  When 
children  came  their  early  education  began  under 
decrepit  and  comparatively  useless  slaves,  to  be 
afterwards  conducted  under  supple,  accomplished, 
and  abandoned  Greek  tutors.  There  was  little  true 
home  life  in  the  Patrician  household,  and  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  wealthy  families  soon  caught  the 
contagion  of  the  vices  which  they  saw  in  their 
parents,  a  constant  and  unblushing  example.  The 
once  grave,   noble,  and   virtuous  senate  bent  their 


ISO    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

heads  to  the  general  flood  of  corruption,  and  even  in 
the  days  of  Tiberius,  as  Tacitus  tells  us,  rushed  head- 
long into  the  most  servile  flattery  of  the  emperor, 
and  stood  ready  to  do  his  behests.    There  was  not  a 
murmur  of  dissent  amongst  them  when  the  censor 
Metellus   declared    that    marriage    could    only    be 
regarded  as  an  intolerable  necessity;  while  a  consul 
asserted  that  there  was  scarcely  one  amongst  them 
all  who  had  not  ordered  one  or  more  of  his  infant 
children  to  be  exposed  to   death.    In  the  hearing 
of  the  same  senate,  in  a.d.  59,  Longinus  gravely 
argued,  that  the  only  security  for  the  lives  of  masters 
was   to  put  into  execution  the   sanguinary  Silanian 
law,  which  enacted  that  if  a  master  were  murdered 
every  one   of  his   slaves,  however  numerous  or  in- 
nocent,  should   be    i'  .  ■•:riminately   massacred.     It 
was  the  senators  of  Hot  e  who  thronged   forth  to 
meet,  with   adoring   congratulations,  the   miserable 
youth  (Nero)  whose  hands  already  reeked  with  the 
blood  of  the  mother  he  had  murdered.    They  offered 
thanksgiving  to  the  gods  for  his  worst  cruelties,  and 
obediently  voted  divine  honours  to  the  dead  infant, 
four  months  old,  of  the  wife  whom   he   afterwards 
killed  with  a  brutal  kick. 

And  what  was  the  religion  of  a  period,  which 
needed  religious  consolation  more  deeply  than  any 
age  since  the  world  began?  Except  in  rural  districts 
the  old  Paganism  was  practically  dead,  and  political 
interference  had  become  necessary  to  support  the 
crumbling  structure  of  classical  polytheism.  But  the 
decrees  and  reforms  of  Claudius  could  do  little  to 
sustain  the  faith  of  an  age,  which  had  witnessed,  in 
consenting  silence,  or  with  frantic  adulation,  the  as- 
sumption by  the  Emperor  Gaius  of  the  attributes  of 
deity  after  deity;  tolerated  his  insults  against  the 
subhmest  objects  of  their  worship ;  and  encouraged 
his  claim  to  a  living  apotheosis.  The  upper  classes 
had  long  learned  to  treat  the  current  mythology  as 
a  mass  of  worthless  fables.     They  either  wholly  dis- 


RELIGION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME.      151 

believed  in  the  existence  of  the  gods,  or  held,  with 
Epicurus,  that  they  were  indifferent  about  mankind. 
The  masses,  while  they  accorded  an  adherence  to  the 
forms  of  the  old  faith,  watched  with  eager  curiosity 
the  crowd  of  foreign  cults  which  the  spread  of  the 
empire  had  brought  to  their  notice.  Such  was  the 
condition  of  the  Roman  world  when  St.  Paul  preached 
in  the  imperial  city,  to  a  few  poor  Jewish  shopkeepers 
and  Gentile  slaves,  a  new  doctrine  at  once  so  bright 
and  full  of  joyous  hope,  as  to  thrill,  with  the  most 
profound  emotions,  the  hearts  of  his  hearers,  many 
of  whom  soon  laid  down  their  lives  for  their  faith. 

Literature  and  art  were  deeply  tainted  with  the 
prevalent  degradation  of  the  Roman  people.  Poetry 
had  largely  degenerated  into  exaggerated  satire,  in- 
sincere declamation,  or  trifling  epigrams.  Art  was 
corrupted  from  the  same  cause,  and  had  descended 
into  the  regions  of  glaring  contrasts,  triviality  of  idea, 
and  the  gross  immorality  of  which  we  still  find  traces, 
at  the  present  day,  amid  the  ruins  of  Pompeii.  Greek 
statues  of  the  days  of  Phidias,  were  ruthlessly  decapi- 
tated that  their  heads  might  be  replace^  by  the 
scowling  or  imbecile  features  of  a  Gaius  or  a  Claudius. 
A  training  in  rhetoric  had  ceased  to  be  a  necessity 
for  the  drania,  which  had  degenerated  into  a  vehicle 
for  the  exhibition  of  scenic  splendour,  or  ingenious 
machinery.  The  actors  who  absorbed  the  greater 
part  of  the  popular  favour  were  the  pantomimists, 
whose  insolent  prosperity  was  generally  in  propor- 
tion to  the  infamy  of  their  characters.^  And  while 
the  general  shamelessness  corrupted  the  purity  of  all 
classes  from  the  earliest  age,  the  hearts  of  the  multi- 
tude were  made  hard  as  stone  with  brutal  insensibility 
by  the  fury  of  the  circus,  the  atrocities  of  the  amphi- 
theatre, and  the  cruel  orgies  of  the  games.  The 
Emperor  Augustus,  in  the  document  annexed  to  his 
will,  mentioned  that  he  had  exhibited  8000  gladiators 
and  3510  wild  beasts,     Dion  Cassius  states  that,  in 

»  Farrar's  Early  Days  of  Christianity,  pp.  6-10. 


; ,   ;i 


I:: 


I   i  ^  :  11  j 


JlKt 
i*'  ■ 


|ls'' 

w 


xM',"* 

m 

■i 

i||ji 

r 

k 

In 

1; '.f 

1 52    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

the  days  of  Claudius,  the  number  of  human  beings 
butchered  in  gladiatorial  contests  and  otherwise,  in  the 
arena,  was  so  great,  that  the  statue  of  Augustus  had 
to  be  moved  that  it  might  not  be  constantly  protected 
with  a  veil  to  screen  it  from  blood;  and  mentions  a 
hon  that  had  been  taught  to  devour  men.    Tacitus 
tells  us  that  in  a  sea  fight,  exhibited  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  the  multitude,  by  the  same  emperor,  19,000 
men  fought  each  other.    At  a  later  period  Titus,  re- 
garded as  a  model  ruler,  brought  into  the  amphi- 
theatre, m  one  day,  5000  wild  beasts,  and  butchered 
thousands  of  Jews  in  the  games  at  Berytus.     Dion 
Cmsius  tells  us  that  even  in  Trajan's  games,  11,000 
animals  and  io,ooo  men  had  to  fight  before  the  freed- 
men  of  Rome.     The  old  warlike  spirit  no  longer  dis- 
tinguished the  principal  families  of  the  nation,  who 
shrank  from  making  themselves  prominent  in  any 
way,  lest  it  should  bring  down  upon  them  the  mur- 
derous suspicions  of  the  reigning  irresponsible  despot. 
The  languid  enervation  of  the  degenerate  and  disso- 
lute aristocrat  could  now  only  be  amused  by  magnifi- 
cence, and  stimulated  by  grossness  or  blood,  and 
the  spectacles  of  criminals  fighting  for  life  with  bears 
and  tigers,  or  gazing  upon  bands  of  gladiators  who 
hacked  each  other  to  pieces  on  the  crimsoned  sand.* 
Such  was  the  degraded  condition  of  the  Roman  Em- 
pire, as  regards  its  social  and  political  relations,  when 
the  Christian  era  arose  upon  the  horizon  of  its  p  es- 
ent  and  its  future.    Despite  all  the  existing  grandeur 
of  that  empire,  and  all  its  apparent  solidity  of  struc- 
ture, the  elements  of  disintegration  and  destruction 
were  already  in  active  operation  within  its  own  sys- 
tem.   As  time  passed  away,  the  Roman  people  be- 
came gradually  more  effeminate  in  their  habits.    The 
moral  deterioration  of  the  race  ended   in   physical 
weakness,  which  rendered  them  unequal  to  the  rough 
life  of  the  soldier;  and  by-and-by  the  defence  of  the 
empire  had  to  be  intrusted  to  armies  of  foreign  mer- 

^  Early  Days  of  Christianity,  p.  6. 


RELIGION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME.     153 

cenaries,  of  whom  Kingsley's  "  Hypatia "  gives  a 
graphic  picture.  Their  national  sins  had  surely  found 
them  out;  and  built  up  a  condition  of  things  which 
finally  ended  in  the  total  ruin  of  Pagan  empire,  and 
the  triumph  of  the  cross.  The  civilisation  of  the 
Roman  Empire  opened  up  a  vast  field  for  the  plant- 
ing of  the  gospel  of  Christ  all  over  the  world,  and  its 
great  highways,  constructed  with  so  much  labour, 
enabled  the  humble  but  wonderfully  successful  mis- 
sionaries of  the  cross  to  travel  from  country  to  coun- 
try with  comparative  readiness  and  ease. 


i! 


•  I 


h  ■  I 

I'"' 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

'""IfF  fuETHl^TZV''''''''''  °^    ™=  CONTENTS 
?HE     SCE^?r.T  ^'l^^C^^^NG   CHAPTERS.   AND   ON 

lACRKn^^lii.^J'''^^'^  "^"^^  ^«=  HEBREW 
IfTHE  PROKr^^cll'"'^''  °^'  "^"^  SAME  PLANE 
AS  THE  PROFANE  SCRIPTURES  OF  OTHER  NATIONS. 

Jn?  eSht' nf S.^'  ^,^^?  ^'^^"' '"  ^'^^Pt^"  Six.  seven. 

B?Sici^  natron,  of  1?'^'°"'  °^  '^^  '"°'*'  prominen 
iJioucai  nations  of  the  ancient  world,  will  enable  «..r 

It  would  be  to  form  a  pecul  ar  people  dnroted  to  fh. 

K.-rh'^o'L"'  •""'  ''"%°°^'  """  f~™  whom  ^ 
Messiah  could  arise  out  of  any  of  them     Nor  v^^rt 

.he  t~f  o?'^sr^„riroSATe 
fee's"  birthtT' "'"?'""'' "" '°  """^"""^  p*^ 

pnesthoods,  who  ministered  t? The^r  eods  a^d  tod 

a  vSd'" S""""  ?""  "^^^Uy  "mpt^.^th  r'^ltl 
a  varied  and  most  imposing  description.     It  was  th, 

pnraeinterest.accordingly,i„  every  Le^ifthepriesav 
^h  .T  '"  '^i"^*i''  '■""='  ""  «i^«"K  order  of  thiW 
a„J  ilT!?!?  *""  ""*  '  '""rioufmeans  of Sk 

u.errr,;fro?of"^KSo1o'^^«-da 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS  155 

was  to  make  him  a  member  of  that  class,  by  marryine 
him  to  Aseneth,  the  daughter  of  the  priest  of  On 
(Genesis  xh.  45.)  He  was  thus  incorporated  with 
the  highest  nobihty  of  the  land,  and  so  occupied  a 
position,  which  most  probably  brought  him  into  close 
relationship  with  the  royal  family,  then  represented 
:^  ?k'  f/c?*"  dynasties  of  what  is  known  in  history 
Sr  ^!  1?*P^"*?  Kings"  of  Lower  and  Middle 
f-gypt  The  polytheistic  system  established  in  Baby- 
lonia by  Sargon  L  in  the  twenty-fourth  century  B.C.. 
became  at  once  the  legal  state  religion  of  that  coun- 
try, and  was  so  acceptable  to  the  people  generally 
that  It  remained  intact,  and  in  full  force  and  use.  until 
the  reign  of  Cyrus,  a  period  of  nearly  nineteen  centu- 
ries, ihe  Persian  conqueror  despised  the  Babylo- 
nian creed,  declined  to  be  chargeable  with  the  support 
of  Its  priests,  and  refused  to  repair  its  temples,  which 
soon,  m  consequence,  began  to  fall  into  decay.    When 

^f  Tf  m'  **!f  ^u'"*  V}^?'^"^  ^^^'y'o"  the  great  temple 
of  Bel-Merodach,  which  in   the  days  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, and  of  his  immediate  successors,  was  the  glory 
of  the  city,  had  become  little  better  than  a  mass  of 
rums.    Assyria  had  also  its  own  state  religion  — its 
own  mythological  system  of  gods  and  goddesses,  to 
which  the  people,  from  the  king  downwards,  were  all 
greatly  attached     In  Syria  and  Palestine,  the  same 
state  ofthings  widely  prevailed:  only  here  and  there, 
at  wide  intervals,  were  the  worshippers  of  the  one 
God,  like  Melchisedek.  King  of  Salem,  to  be  found. 
When  Abraham  was  born,  in  the  second  decade  of 
the  twenty^econd  century  B.C.,  the  whole   known 
world    might    be  said    to    be   composed   of  Pagan 
nations,   which  had   no  room  for  a  pure  theistical 
reformed  faith,  no  place  for  a  prospective  Messiah, 
and  whose  religions  were  all   firmly  established  by 
law  and  popular  usage. 

*u^aI'*^1'^'°."^  °^  *h^  ^"*='«"*  wofl'J'  as  they  stood  in 
the  Abraham.c  period,  cannot  be  traced  to  a  common 
source.    While  they  all  pointed,  either  directiy  or 


t\iW> 


I   Mi 
V 


. '  -'I .' 


m 

I 


I 


156    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

L"»i  tX^  i?VS  j'S"/ 

«  most  prominent  at  the  first%nd  aftcmalds  SL' 

that  man  came  so  generally  to   believe   that    th2 
supreme  powers,  whatever  their  character  wn?.iH  k 

f;r;:r  &^^  if  "*  deatft^^^rri: 

asked  how  did  the  AccadiT"""*? ";  '*  ""^^  ^^»  ^e 
which  prevailed  Tnflf"^"'  knowledge  of  sacrifices 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS.  157 

sacrifice,  and  the  observance  of  the  sabbath  formed 
parts,  and  to  the  gradual  and  subsequent  cloudine 
over  of  this  primitive  revelation  in  every  direction,  un- 
less among  the  Hebrews  alone.    Even  among  them  a 
worship  of  teraphim  or  household  gods  crept   in 
(Genesis  xxxi.  19,  35)  together  with  other  corruptions 
M*J?.""*  ?^^^^-  '4).  and  the  denunciations  and  terrors 
of  Sinai  became  necessary  to  clear  away  the  polythe- 
istic secretions  acquired  both  before  and  during  their 
sojourn  m  Egypt.    Outside  the  Hebrew  people  there 
was  no  restraint,  as  regards  the  progress  of  idolatrous 
practices ;  and  the  degeneration  of  mankind  went  on 
continually.*    As  Dr.  Dollinger  says :  "  A  dark  cloud 
stole  over  man  s  original  consciousness  of  the  Divinity 
and  m  consequence  of  his  own  guilt  an  estrangement 
of  the  creature  from  the  one  living  God  took  place 
Man  under  the  overpowering  sway  of  sense  and  sen- 
sual lust,  and  proportionally  weakened,  therefore,  in 
his  moral  freedom,  was  unable  any  longer  to  conceive 
of  the  Divinity  as  a  pure,  spiritual,  supernatural  and 
infinite  Being,  distinct  from  the  world,  and  exalted 
above  It    And  thus  it  followed  inevitably,  that,  with 
his  intellectual  horizon  bounded  and  confined  within 
the  limits  of  nature,  he  should  seek  to  satisfy  the  in- 
born  necessity  of  an  acknowledgment  and  reverence 
of  the  Divinity  by  the  deification  of  material  nature; 
for  even  in  its  obscuration  the  idea  of  the  Deity,  no 
longer  recognised  indeed,  but  still  felt  and  perceived 
continued  powerful;  and  in  conjunction  with  it  the 
truth  struck  home,  that  the  Divinity  manifested  itself 
in  nature  as  ever  present  and  in  operation.""    The 
cloud  described  in  the  foregoing  passage  was  darker 
and  thicker  in  some  places  than  in  others.     Some 
races  lost  even  the  traditions  of  their  ancient  faith ;  and 
evolved,  out  of  their  inner  consciousness,  a  new  faith 
to  suit  themselves.      Others  lost  a  portion  without 
losing  the  whole  of  their  inherited  knowledge.    There 

>  Relipons  of  the  Ancient  World,  sec.  2x2 
«  DoUinger's  Jew  and  Gentile,  Vol.  I.  p.  65. 


I 


il 


A. 

i 


jl^^ 


158    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

were  others  again  who  had  scarcely  lost  anything  but 

cerdotal  symbolisms.     The  only  theory  which  ae 
counts  for  all  the  facts  of  the  case-lf^r^thruSity  m 
well  as  diversity  of  ancient  Pagan  religions.  "sThS 
of  a  primeval  6ivine  revelation?  varioully  corrupted 
through  the  manifold  and  uniform  deterioratioS  of 
human  nature,  m  different  races  and  places.' 
ofVhl  ^•^^'^v'«^  0/  the  religious  systems  of  some 
to  S!  P!"°"""«"t  n«t'ons  of  the  ancient  world  points 
to  the  plam  cone  usion,  that  the  religion  of  the  He- 
brews  d,d  not  originate  from  any  of  thJm.   The  Israel- 
.tes.  at  different  periods  of  their  history,  were  placed 
under  Egyptian   Babylonian,  and  Pe«ian  author?ty 
and  influence  and  sceptical  writers  have  endeavoured 
to  prove,  that  Judaism  was  only  a  mere  offshoot  from 
the  religion  of  one  or  the  other  of  these  nations.    C 
with  Jie  clear  knowledge  that  we  now  possess  of  the 

writers  has  become  wholly  untenable.    We  know  a 

F^»  ^f\,T7  l""^  °f  **»*  ''»*o'y  •"<»  religion  of 
Egypt,  of  Babylonia,  and  of  other  ancient  oriental  na- 
tions, than  when  Renan  wrote  his  "  Life  of  Jesus  "  and 
we  now  know,  that  there  is  not  a  particle  of  evidence 
to  show  that  any  one  of  these  nations.  Egypt  alone 
excepted,  ever  reached,  in  any  school  ^f  Sotcric  or 

S'o7emTroT*T?*u^''*"?i°''*='P*'°"  of  one  only 
EXnH«n5o^-  fl^'  knowledge  that  the  privileged 
Egyptian  had  of  him  wa.s  sedulously  hid  out  of  siSit 
and  concealed  from  the  people  by  their  presto  who 
fed  them  with  the  husks  of  a  degrading  polytheism 
instead  All  the  Pagan  world,  it  might  be  said.  wS 
sunk  into  gross  idolatry.  All  its  literature,  the  ve? 
best  of  ,t.  all  Its  poetry,  all  its  inscriptions  and  monS- 

S  nlJitw  ^'"'-  *"■'  '''=?"^*^**  ^'^^  t*''^  e'oss  teachings 
of  polytheism,  m  one  shape  or  another.  There  is  no 
exception  to  the  facts,  and  no  escape  from  the  con- 
elusion.     When  we  turn  to  the  Hebrew  literature,  that 

*  Religicna  of  the  Ancient  World,  sec.  232. 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS 


»59 


hat  come  down  to  ui,  the  contrast  it  at  once  complete 
and  itartling.    The  record  t>egins :  "  In  the  beginning 
God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth  "  —  one  God ; 
not  Oiirii,  or  Ra,  or  Kneph.  nor  anv  of  the  many 
gods  of  Egypt,  or  Babylonia,  or  Assyria,  or  Phoenicia, 
but  one  real,  exclusive,  sole  Jehovah.    The  contrast 
is  indeed   most   remarkable.    We    have   Accadian 
stories,  parallel  with  those  of  Genesis,  of  the  Creation, 
and  the  Flood ;  we  have  histories  of  war  and  con- 
quest,  of  national  progress  in  times  of  peace,  but 
always  and  everywhere  the  contrast  consUntly  pre- 
sents iUelf.    The  Jew  had  but  one  God ;  the  other 
nations  had  gods  many  and  lords  many.    The  reason 
for  this  superiority  in  the  belief  of  the  Hebrew  people 
does  not  clearly  appear  upon  the  surface.    They  were 
no  shrewder  in  wit  than  their   Pagan  neighbours, 
while  they  were  inferior  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  as 
well  as  in  war.    They  were  less  learned,  less  given  to 
culture  and  literature,  and  their  entire  inheriUnce  in 
Canaan  would  be  equalled  in  size  by  half  a  dozen 
Canadian   counties;    and,  yet,    this    comparatively 
insignificant    people,   achieved,  from   their  earliest 
history,  beginning  with  the  call  of  Abraham,  and 
afterwards  maintained,  despite  occasional  backslid- 
ings,  a  conception  of  God  beyond  all  ancient  parallel. 
That  conception  could  not  have  arisen  from  a  natural 
instinct  for  monotheism,  for  nothing  of  that  kind 
has  ever  had  a  place  in  the  human  mind.    It  was 
something  to  be  impressed  and  learned  from  an  inde- 
pendent source.    From  such  a  source  alone  could 
come  the  most  important  of  all  the  facts,  which  the 
historical  and  literary  criticism  of  Hebrew  literature 
has  told  us,  of  this  sole  unparalleled  conception  of 
the  one  true  God.    Judaism  stands  out  from  all  other 
ancient  religions,  as  a  thing  sui  generis,  presenting 
the  sharpest  contrast  to  the  systems  prevalent  in  all 
the  other  countries  of  the  Orient  and  elsewhere,  and 
so  wholly  different  from  them,  in  its  spirit  and  essence, 
that  its  origin  must  have  been  entirely  distinct  and 


li'H 


'  'I 


it 

■  I 


[ft 


160    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

moral'  perfection    »^ -.if"  ,"?^taphysical  as  well  as 

al  v.ng  and  personal  God.  the  almightyaTd  ^oi?™- 
tor  preserver,  and  ruler  of  the  world-  a  fi.S    f 

Egypcan  "Ritual  of  the  Dead,"  CSS"  i,  be  tJ'? 

'  Ency.  Brit.,  Vol.  XXIII.  p.  239. 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS 


i6i 

^Z'^^'Jta^'rr^^^^^^^^^  Veda,  or  the 

resemblance  may  perh^^^^^^^  ^  superficial 

of  the  PentateuSfand  certafnn'f'.K'^  '"'\"""  P°^*'°"« 
Babylonia;  but  thrtoneanVc-l'"^^*^'^^ «"«='«"' 

so  markedly  different  ?hat  „!>?'"*  ^^^''^  *^°  ««•« 
as  the  original  of  the  othe  ""^u"  *=\"  ^e  regarded 
most  nearly,  as  in  the  accoM„,c^^^''^  ^^^  approach 
and  the  Deluge  while  th^f  f''^"  °^  ***^  C^'^ation 
same,  or  nearl^  the  same  ^S/''?  •'""^^"''^^'^  ^--^^  the 
utterly  unlike.»  '  ^  '^«''g'0"s  standpoint  is 

sha?erof%fn?of ra"nX'r  "'r?  ^^P^"«"*  --- 
who  tell  us  fh^the  Bible"?s  nn!".»,^''''".*°  ^^h^'^"". 
more  than  the  wrj!ngs  of  heli''  ""7^  ""^  ^°^  ^"^ 
any  age  are  the  word  of  Goj  Th^/S"  ""J''^"  ^^ 
is  only  one  of  the  c^ZL  7,     ^''*'«'  they  add. 

It  does  not  s?a„d  alo^n?  Th?S  ^^v!^'  °^  '"«"'^'"d' 
sacred  scriptures  the  HJ„H^  ""/^<^h.sts  have  their 
medans  theL.'^^ '^^^  ^'^^^^^^^^^^^^  the  Moh.m- 
Scnptures  stand  on  no  higher  Sane  ^h^n.^^^'^'if* 
Any  one  at  all  acquainted  with  thi  ri!        r  r^^^  ^°- 

are  twenty-frr  h««„s  and   ."w*'"'  *"  *"« 
parts  of  the  naturTw^rM        J'^S'.P"'  ''="=.  »« 

the  despotism  of  the  government  rndrh^      .°°'"' 
poverty  and  begga,y  If  the^p^^llle!?"  A",' ^S 


ill- 
fir 

m'I' 


II 


i62    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


If'- 


Vt' 


belief  which  produces  these  results,  although  its  ethi- 
cal teachings  may  in  some  directions  be  commend- 
able, cannot  surely  have  its  religious  books  placed  on 
the  same  high  plane  as  that  which  the  Hebrew  Scrip 
tures  occupy.^  The  sacred  books  of  the  Hindoos,  as 
represented  by  the  Vedas  or  Rig  Vedas,  teach  poly- 
theism in  the  widest  sense,  and  parade  their  numer- 
ous gods  and  goddesses  for  our  consideration.  As  a 
result  we  have  the  heathen  temples  of  India  to-day 
full  of  monstrous  representations  of  deities,  before 
whom  the  benighted  people  bow  down  in  profound 
adoration.  When  we  remember  the  suttee,  or  burn- 
ing of  widows  on  the  funeral  pyres  of  their  husbands, 
a  Hindoo  custom  up  to  a  few  years  ago,  and  finally 
suppressed  with  much  difficulty  by  the  Indian  gov- 
ernment, we  can  realise  that  the  Pagan  creed  of  India 
has  the  elements  of  the  same  sanguinary  cruelty 
within  itself  which  characterised  so  many  of  the 
heathen  religions  of  the  ancient  world.  Cases  of 
infanticide  are  still  very  common  in  India,  especially 
among  the  Rajputs,  and  also  the  practice  of  bringing 
the  aged  and  helpless,  who  can  no  longer  care  for 
themselves,  to  the  brink  of  some  holy  river,  and  es- 
pecially the  Ganges  (the  god  Gunga),  and  leaving 
them  there  on  their  charpoys  (bedsteads)  with  their 
mouths  and  nostrils  stuffed  with  clay,  to  be  carried 
away  by  the  current  into  the  arms  of  the  water  god. 

>  "  To  the  Yellow  God,  the  Black  God,  the  White  God,  and  the 
Green  God.  —  Please  kindly  take  us  all  up  with  you,  and  do  not 
leave  us  unprotected,  but  destroy  our  enemies."  Such  a  prayer  is 
to  be  found  on  a  Tibetan  praying-wheel.  The  Tibetan  is  a  martyr 
to  folk-lore,  conceiving,  as  he  does,  his  spiritual  life  to  be  a  struggle 
against  demons  which  are  just  as  hard  to  conquer  as  the  passes  and 
deserts  of  his  country.  A  novel  feature  of  this  prayer-wheel,  which 
the  Tibetan  spends  much  of  his  time  in  turning,  is  that  if  turned  the 
wrone  way  everything  done  before  is  undone.  Some  of  the  articles 
used  by  the  Tibetans  in  their  devotion  are  very  gruesome.  A  human 
thigh-bone  covered  with  human  skin  is  used  as  a  horn  for  exorcising 
demons  and  to  draw  the  soul  from  hell.  A  double  drum  made  from 
the  halves  of  a  skull,  the  skin  covering  being  that  of  a  human  being, 
is  placed  on  the  altar  of  certain  fiend  deities  in  the  Tibetan  religion. 
(Toronto  Mail  and  Empire,  July  i6,  1904.) 


f 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS.  163 

The  Hindoo  creed  is  one  of  the  most  repressive,  as 
regards  human  progress,  it  is  possible  to  conceive. 
It  is  pervaded  by  the  system  of  caste,  which  binds 
every  man  to  the  social  orbit  in  which  all  his  ances- 
tors, from  time  immemorial,  moved.  The  sons  of  a 
tradesman  must  all  belong  to  the  same  craft  or  caste 
as  their  father  before  them.  They  can  never  rise 
any  higher,  or  improve  their  social  condition  in  any 
way.  On  the  topmost  rung  of  to  social  ladder 
stands  the  L/ahmin  priest;  on  the  lowest  rung  stands 
the  despised  Pariah,  who  has  no  caste,  is  virtually  the 
slave  of  all  grades  of  society  above  him,  and  per- 
forms Its  vilest  and  lowest  menial  tasks.  The  Rig 
Vedas,  or  Hindoo  scriptures,  which  sanction  this 
degraded  condition  of  things  cannot  certainly  be 
placed  on  a  par  with  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  which 
teach  the  equality  of  all  men  before  the  Deity,  and 
nng  out  so  clearly  and  constantly  the  clarion  notes 
of  true  human  liberty,  and  the  pure  spiritual  worship 
of  one  God.  *^ 

The  Mohammedan  scriptures  consist  of  the  Koran, 
which  means  a  recitation  or  reading  given  to  disciples 
at  various  times,  by  the  impostor  Mohammed,  who 
could  neither  read  nor  write.  According  to  the  Mos- 
lem creed  a  book  was  treasured  up  in  the  seventh 
heaven,  and  had  existed  there  from  all  eternity,  in 
which  were  written  down  all  the  decrees  of  God,  and 
all  events,  past,  present  and  to  come.  Transcript 
records  of  the  Divine  will  were  brought  down  to  the 
lowest  heaven  by  the  Angel  Gabriel,  and  by  him  re- 
vealed to  Mohammed,  from  time  to  time,  in  portions 
adapted  to  some  event  or  emergency.  These  revela- 
tions were  taken  down,  and  preserved  carefully  by 
disciples  or  secretaries,  gathered  together  after  the 
death  of  Mohammed  by  Abu  Beker,  his  successor  in 
the  Caliphate,  and  constitute  the  Koran  or  written 
law.  In  addition  a  number  of  precepts  or  apologues 
which  were  casually  spoken  by  Mohammed,  were 
collected  from  his  hearers,  and  formed  into  a  book 


il 


li 


tiji 


•  1; 


li 


t 


H* 


r  i 

I'  > 


iim 


!■ 


164    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

called  the  Shunite  or  Oral  Law     tk:«  k^-.i    •    l  . . 
equally  sacreH  w.f h  i^.l  v  .  ^  "'*  °°°*  "  held 

character  of  fh?^      '    "**  "'"*='»  persecution.     The 

nicans,  acquired  a  knowledM  of  ou  x  . '  ""^  '°"" 
tory  and  the  Four  GmmKhS  °  .,  J"*"""'  '""- 
assed  of  great  natuSf  .hi'l.J,  T"  *"'  "«"  P°»- 
memorv     B^f  »«""!  ability  and  a  most  wonderful 

one  God  and  Mohammed  ?s^h?sproSet""H-  ^"^ 
tellectual  qualities  "  savs  th^.hL-'^^T  •  ^'^  in- 
undoubted^  o?";  e^:a^li^a^°'Z6'''SI''i.:6''' 

edge  concerninor  fh^        1     *  ^"i?^'  ^*"^*y  of  knowl- 
ugc  concern  ng  the  systems  of  relieion  currenf  ,n 

5i;     "^'  Se'^w"''^  ^r"  ^y  faditir  fSman  " 

P^sion  for  the  Sher^i"^^!,'''  ''^  "^*"^^'  ^"^  ^^ 
his   afraid     >>Tu  ^^"^  ^^^  *"  influence  over  all 

vJhich^Sght  m/"  r  r°,i^'"^^  '"  ^'^'^  -orfd 
perfumes"    AluTfrH..   '^°" '^  ^^y''  "women  and 

than  oSer  Arai^n  'hTsSrr*"',^'^'^  T^''^  ""«°» 
uicr  AraDian  historians,  limits  his  wives  to 

»  Irving's  Life  of  Mohammed,  p.  192. 


:!.| 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS.  ,65 

received  at  MedLf  whT^^u^"  ""'^  "^  *as  well- 
generally  accepted    and  hU%;i  *^^'^'",S  ^^«  ^'^'y 
Fugitives  present?'    locked  to  him*^f  "''^"r'^*^^^^ 
well  as  proselytes  {mmth.^1     .  !"./''°"?  ^ecca,  as 

use  of  'rms/a^?£;:roV'pa'Ss"r^a'rr^^^^^^^        ^^^ 
found  a  small  army  at  his  commanH      S    ^  ''°°" 

and  Jesus  Christ   had  nnVk  ^  ^?',  '"<='"ding  Moses 
viction  byTeaiff  or  evL     "  ""^'^  V°  ""^°^^«  *=°n- 

quer,  will  assuredly  receive  a  ^InrJ«         ^' ?""  *=°"- 

med  was  largdy  a  refle    Jon^f' h^f"^''"  of  Moham- 

andof  themfst'^ensuouscha^^^^^^^^  tT.  ".^P^'^"^' 
will  resound  with  the  son^s  of  fi!'^  u  ^"■'  ^^  ^^y^' 
dise;  the  veo^  rSsSng  oTthe  ^^^^^^^^^^ 
'shmg  harmony;  while  myriads  J  K  ?ii!" '■^''- 
an^ong  their  bra^nches,  l^illTe^utinl^t mo'tSf 
•  I'vinj't  Life  o(  Mohammal,  p.  1,3. 


'I! 

i 


I, 


I)  I 


i66    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

airs  from  the  throne  of  Allah.    Above  all  the  faithful 
will  be  blessed  with  female  society  to  the  full  extent 
of  oriental  imaginings.     Besides  the  wives  he  had  on 
earth,  who  will  rejoin  him  in  all  their  pristine  charms, 
he  will  be  attended  by  the  Houris,  so  called  from 
their  large  black  eyes,  resplendent  beings  free  from 
every  human  defect  or  frailty;  perpetually  retaining 
their  youth  and  beauty,  and  renewing  their  virginity. 
Seventy-two  of  them  are  allotted  to  every  true  believer. 
The  intercourse  with  them  will  be  fruitful  or  not  ac- 
cording to  their  wish,  and  the  offspring  will  grow 
within  an  hour  to  the  same  stature  as  their  parents. 
That  the  true  believer  may  be  fully  competent  to  the 
enjoyment  of  this  blissful  region,  he  will  rise  from  the 
grave  in  the  prime  of  manhood  at  the  age  of  thirty, 
of  the  stature  of  Adam,  which  was  thirty  cubits,  with 
all  his  faculties  improved  to  a  state  of  preternatural 
perfection,  with  the  abilities  of  a  hundred  men,  and 
with  desires  and  appetites  quickened    rather  than 
sated  by  enjoyment'    A  creed  of  such  a  warlike  and 
sensuous  character  was  eminently  calculated  to  pro- 
mote the  most  extreme  fanaticism,  to  foster  the  lust 
of  conquest,  and  render  its  soldier-propagators  careless 
of  death.     It  laid  the  solid  foundation  of  all  the  sub- 
sequent successes  of  Mohammedan  arms.    Nor  has 
the  creed  propounded  by  the  Arabian  false  prophet, 
for  such  he  unquestionably  was,  disappeared  with  the 
progress  of  time.     It  is  still  a  vital  force  in  the  world, 
has  a  steady  proselytising  influence  among  the  heathen 
natives  of  all  parts  of  Africa,  and  frees  the  Hindoo, 
when  he  accepts  it,  from  the  intolerable  shackles  of 
of  caste.     The  best  statistical  authorities  estimate  the 
Mohammedan  population  of  the  world  as  now  over 
two  hundred  millions  of  souls,  of  whom  about  forty- 
three  millions  are  British  subjects,  resident  in  India, 
alone. 


li  i 


1  Irving's  Life  of  Mohammed,  p.  aog.  For  further  information  as 
regards  Mohammedanism,  see  Ency.  Brit,  Vol.  XVI.  p.  ue,  and  Sale's 
Koran,  Chaps.  V.  to  VI. 


4 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS.  x^j 

?aurh  n^foS  ^^.^^^^^^^^^^^  lit 
into  practice     His  fi  L I      n  puttmg  his  new  resolve 

van,?he  property  of  hLro^rm*  ?'  *°  '""*=''  *  *=«'^- 
returning  home  from  Svwf?  J"  *°^\5"!«^n.  as  it  was 
and  raisins.  OnlyTne  man  W  S-'^'S  ''**^^''  ^'"^• 
sion.  The  attack  on  ^„  J°^*  Ji^  ^''^  °"  *h«  occa- 
December!  A  D  daTleH  .^^'*  i^^'*=^"  "^^^^n.  •« 
superior  force  ^nwhtilr^'l^^''''"  *>^"'«  «"th  a 
victorious.     Two  of  hS  ^?*»*'""'^d  was  completely 

miesof  WandLsti/L'-^"^""'  ^^''^  *"*='«"*  «"«" 
to  death.  tX  reSn^7  •'*°'^  \m^ri%  them 
on  payment  of  a  J?.     '"^  prisoners  life  was  spared 

members  of  severTS-       »,   ?"' ''^  ^'^  °f<^ers,  of 

He  accordingly  declart!J  '*^*^'^"""?«J  O"  their  ruin. 

the«  run,  as  follows:  "And  whef  M'S?saS":«o' 


168 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


i  ; 


cow  not  brXn  J«  «i       I   ^°'*^^  answered  she  is  a 

Srinkl^thaTwhTh^i^'rn^heS^^^^^  ^^^  ^^^ 

digested  drees  and  hlo<^  «        .      ''  ^  ''^"°'"  between 

thf  fruits  of  ?aJm  trie? an^of  ^  ^""^  '""''•  .  '^"^  ^^ 
inebriating  li? uoT  and  dso^nof  "P"'  T  °^*"'"  ^" 
Lord  snake  hi  {n».f*-         ^°°'l  nourishment.    The 

neighbouring  7^     tVZ      5°  ^"^  Provisions  in  a 
s  uuunng  city.     There  a  dispute  arose  about  the 

\  ?Kj''/f/"'*"'  Chap.  II.  p.  17. 
*  Ibid..  Chap.  XVI.  p.  147. 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS.  ,69 

strdog'^rthcrurfh'  at/s  ""^  *\'-'  -<» 

five,  and  their  dog  was  th;  s^ith    ^J""  '*^  ^^^^  "^''"^ 

matter:    and  othir«  d  they ''wer^c  VeTerlnVJ^''^* 
dog  was  the  eighth  a^a^       seven,  and  their 

cav*L  three  hu'td  yea.t^d'nfnToV^" '.r^i"„  \t'' 

^nriTsV^nt  10^  -r-"r  wh-  ^--  s 

ceLe?o  go  ^rwa/d  until  I^'  '°"  °^  ?""'  ^  ^'"  "°t 
the  two  sIL  S  or  I  will  t'r?  r°  '*'?  P'""  ^^ere 

time.    But  wEhe^  arrived  at  I°e  "mt".^  ^^^^ 
two  seas  thev  forcrot  «t«:,  «  u     u- ^  meeting  of  the 

answered  dost  thou  know  wG    k^i  k  i  „  """" 
When  we  took  ud  our  i^„-       .   ?  Wallen  me? 

^r'^in^^SsHS^Hi?-- 

wonderful  manner "»     " AnH  c^^        "*  ^^*  '"  * 
heir  "  «ai/B  ltl*u  "^"^  Solomon  was  David's 

«nto7h?vS  o?a^«     An'd  '"°*  ""''!  *'>■  "■»« 

?e!:eT;hf^?"F^"^-o^^^^^^^^ 

^  .^t  tt'  tt'",'  Si:"";  "  *'  reason  that  I 

chastise  her  S"  sevei  cLt'^'™"    ^""'^  '  *^ 
ker  to  death  nMirrh^K*""""""''  ""  '  "«'  P"t 

•  Ibid.,  Chap.  XXVII.  p.  204. 


K^.:iSI 


m 


1* 


!     W 


m 


170    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

comoare  the  Koran  to  the  Bible.  ^     ^''''P'* 

ble  thrrK?""^  P''°"***  *°  '«^'«^'  "  briefly  as  possi- 

pjt^-^re"^^^^^^^^^ 

trS""^  ^••°'"  ^"^'^  during  the  fi^st  ce„tu^?f 
the  Christian  era.  spread  rapidly  among  the  maMes 
and  has  more  adherents  in  China  to-da5  thanTtS 
other  sects  combined.    We  have  already  dealt  w^th 

}?rthtTtJce°"feo"^'  '"^^  r°'^ingVreqle"no 
imon  J  fh  f  Taouism  has  also  numerous  followers 
arnong  the  lower  classes.     Its  founder,  Taoutaze  was 

he  S:Th?,V!;  ?"^",^'"''     Disheartened  : 
n^r«  «f  I'       h.s  efforts  to  reform  the  dissolute  man- 

voted^him'seff  J;^^'*''"'^'^  '"*?  P"^**^  life,  and  S^ 
votea  nimself  to  the  composition  of  the  "Sutra  of 

scheme  S'nh^'""';'  ^^"^  ^^'-'^  ^^  cnundat'd  a 
to  th?Hn.»^  ''°'°rPu>''r]''*=^  *»«="  a  Strong  analogy 
to  the  doctrines  of  the  Manicheans,  the  leadine  ookJ 
'aV^""  l^elation  of  something  which  he  cauf  Taou 
d  i'""');r"-    ^"^  ^^"^  Buddhism  anSxaoIfsm 

fs  the  relLl^n  '??.*'  f'"^"!,**^^  '"^^^«'  ConfudS 
IS  tne  religion  of  the  learned,  and  of  the  upper  classes 

lorVw^-  The  m".*'"^ ':' ''"^^ devotedTL  : so 
Ts    he  ?■  f.lTn     ^°''^7'"edans  profess  the  same  creed 
as  their  fellows  elsewhere,  and  the  Koran  forms  ac- 


M  m 


;  ! 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS.  171 

fur'?.'''S?[  *V''  '"^P*"^'-,  The  only  Chinese  scrip- 
tures, therefore,  which  it  is  necessaiy  to  refer  to  at 
any  length  are  chiefly  formed  by  the  wr  tings  and 
sayings  of  Confucius.    There  are  some  doubtf  ,bout 

S^V^.'lSr'hu.l'*''' '•«*'•  *Pr»'»"ce  upon  the 
S!riM  *^5'  ?"*•  **»\con»en«"»  of  historical  opinion 

ni^n.'.!,?  ***  then  only  a  small  country,  with  i 
s^u^U  rwTrf'^'i",*'?.^*!"  *"*"*'  fifteen  millioJ 
5?ff!~„;  "  *  ^*"''.*!  '^'ngdom.  The  lords  of  the 
different  provmces  paid  an  annual  tribute  to  the  kin^ 

lords'S^came  at  '?'  ""'^'^  '''^'''-  ^^°'"«  ^^  ^ 
i^SL  7  »u*  *"""  ™°''^  powerful  than  the  sov- 
ereign,  and  the  country  was  frequently  a  prev  to 
disorder  and  petty  wars.     "  The^  world."  sa[7the 

fn^rifK?"**?"*",^!""!"''  "'^^^  <■*"«"  into  decay, 
and  right  principles  had  di' •      "  - 

courses  and  oppressive  dee 

Uters  murdered  their  rule; 

Confucius    was    frightened 

undertook    the    work    of 


'ppeared.     Perverse  dis- 

were  waxen  rife.     Min- 

and  sons  their  fathers. 

by  what    he    saw,  and 

reformation."    Confucius 


/.,».        e        «.    :"""•     *"     »ciurnianon.        ^.^ontucius 

wh?ch  hanT  °^  *''"  r**'"*  ^^'"•""  •"  the  count  y! 

^AttSl\iTr^!  *^  compelled  to  earn  his  living, 
wlr  f  *  f  ^  *«:«nty-two  he  became  a  teacher  5f 
rlf,.  i?"''"^'.  ?"d  government,  and  soon  gathered  a 

n.^^  /.!"''"*""«  *^''*='P'"  ^''^"t  *»'•"•  His  subse- 
quent fortunes  were  various.     At  one  time  he  would 

t^lT  u^^  P?]''^*^  P°^'*'°"«  J"  his  native  state  at 
crnaU^'  ^'  ''°"ll'''  ^  ^'^t'y  wanderer  from  one  p  in- 
cipahty  to  another,  as  the  missionary  of  his   own 

r  r  fhi  r^'  r  ^'  ^*'  '"  ^is  sixty-ninth  year.  483 
B.  c.,  that  Confucius  again    found   himself   in   his 

marmlt^;.'^''"^^  change  of  government  had 
made  matters  very  favourable  for  him;  but  he  now 
declined  to  accept  public  office,  and  devoted  himse7f 
instead  to  the  completion  of  his  literary  tasks.  He 
died  in  the  year  478  B.  c.  at  the  age  of  sever   --four 


i  P  I 


t-  'i 


i 

m 


M 


172    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

Sir*"!.'*'"/ ..'"•!'"'**°'y  *>"*•    "No    Intelligent 
filler,    he  laid,  "  arises  to  uke  me  as  his  master." 

Disappointed  hopes  made  his  soul  bitter.    His  wife 

and  children  were  all  dead,  and  there  were  no  near 

relations  to  perform  for  him  the  offices  of  affection. 

5*H«th      Ui  PJ'^*';  ^u  ^^'J^r*^  no  apprehension 
of  death.    His  disciples  buried  him  with  sreat  pomp 
in  the  cemetery  outside  the  city  of  Kiuh-fow;  and  a 
number  of  them  built    huts  near  his   grave,  and 
mourned  him  for  nearly  three  years.    The  news  of 
hw  decease  went  through  the  Chinese  states  like  an 
electric  shock,  and  the  man  who  had  been  neglected 
when  alive  seemed  to  become  all  at  once  an  object  of 
unbounded  admiration  —a  feeling  which  has  endured 
during  all  the  succeeding  centuries.    A  magnificent 
gate  gives  admission  to  a  fine  avenue,  lined  with 
cypress  trees,  leading  to  his  tomb;  a  large  and  lofty 
mound,  with  a  marble  statue  in  front  bearing  the  in- 
scription, •'  The  most  sagely  ancient  teacher,  the  all- 
accomplished,  all-mformed  king." 

It  is  a  difficult  task  to  determine  what  there  was 
about  Confucius  to  secure  for  him  the  influence  which 

^rin^J      c\-  "*=  '^^  "**  ^"*'"B»  »«*ti"g  forth  the 
principles  of  his  moral  and  social  system.    "The 
Doctrine  of  the  Mean,"  by  his  grandson,  and  "The 
Great  Learning,"  by  a  disciple,  give  the  fullest  infor- 
mation  extant  on  that  subject,  and  contain  many  of 
his  sayings.    These  he  did  not  care  to  reduce  to 
writing,  and  said  of  himself  that  he  was  merely  a 
transmitter,  and  not  a  maker.    The  rule  of  life  for 
men  m  all  their  relations  he  held  was  to  be  found 
within  themselves.    The  brief  historical  works  left 
behind  him  are  not,  according  to  the  critics,  at  all 
creditable  to  his  memory.    We  get  a  higher  idea  of 
the  man  from  the  accounts  which  his  disciples  have 
given  us  of  his  intercourse  and   conversation  with 
them,  and  the  attempts  which  they  have  made  to  pre- 
sent his  teachings  in  a  systematic  form.     It  woiud 
appear  that  the  greatest  benefit  he  had   conferred 


'if 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS.  173 

upon  his  country  was  in  reviving,  to  some  extent  its 
t'e"ntn  ^1"%*'"^  «"  catalogSng  and  drSgat! 
Srim?«  n-^?  literary  .remains.  Confucius  laid  „o 
claim  to  Divine  revelations.  On  two  or  three  occa- 
sions he  vaguely  ntimated  that  he  had  a  missTon  from 
heaven,  and  until  it  was  accomplished  he  was  safe 
against  all  attempts  to  injure  him^  But  hi*  teachincs 
were  singularly  devoid  of  reference  to  anythiS 
what  was  seen  and  temporal.  Man  as  he  U  inS  ^ul 
duties  belonging  to  hiSi  in  socTetJ.  weJe  Si  'thatt 

n"u7;wlfrrm"God'rh\  "^  "^^^'"^^  »"*»--'» 

was^Triktf  S?r"-  ^  •"  -ffirln%7°'f,»- 
rt^f  «fl"  ^  difference  between  his  language  and 
"  The  Ki^"'"  *"'""*  T°^*^!'-  0"*=  of  *hefe  modeU 
the  sL^  Jd  r?  g^'f  r  P""?  ^y  *"''"•  «"d  formed 
Ih-urt^^ti^^— ^''°°'*r''"'"  ^^'^'»  ^^  frequently  in- 
structed his  disciples.  In  that  book  the  references  to 
the  Supreme  Being  are  abundant:  thereTs  an  exult° 
me  awAl  recognition  of  him  as  the  almighty  Jeraona 

Sfnci  "w>H''r";'*^  *=°"'"  of  nature  S;,J7rov?- 
dence.    With  Confucius,  on  the  contrary,  the  vaeue 

Se"°Th  '"'"^  "*^T"  ^^'^  "'^  place  ?^' the  D?v1ne 
ments.  He  thought  it  was  better  that  men  should 
not  occupy  theniselves  with  anything  butThemsdvef 

exfstlnce"*  wit*'"  theifprefent  conSn  o^'f 

existence.  Whatever  the  institutions  of  Chow  the 
ancient  name  of  China,  prescribed  about  the  services 
to  be  paid  to  the  spirits  of  the  departed,  and  to  other 

Xn  ; i%£?^°''7fu^  '■*^""*^"*'y  "P  to  the  letter^  bS 
Ir«.-n„     T^"°^*'^''  government  asked  him.  on  one 
occasion,  what  constituted  wisdom?  he  replied •  "To 
give  one's  self  earnestly  to  the  duties  due  to  men  and 

them  '■Tt'r^tf'"'r.'l,*^.'"^^  to  '^"P  «'oof  from 
them. — that  may  be  called  wisdom."     But  what  belief 

underlay  the  practice,  coeval  with  the  firsT  dawn  of 

Chinese  history,  of  sacrificing  to  the  spirits  of  the 


111 
fh 


ill 


II 


I  J* 


ills 


174    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

departed,  Confucius  would  not  sav     "  Wh.-u 

not  know  life,"  he  said  '•  whJf  IT  .   '^  ^^^  ^° 

dea*  ■■    Do„b„  «r.he  ^cnl^uXisllr  ofS 

has  aided  S^co„I^  Thrs?:;ii5 L""  ^l^^'"' 

descendants.     If  therrwer/«„V?  *^  Fu'^^"'  °^  *^'^ 
ward  virtue  or  termrf  ^  f  .  ^  J°^?.°^ ''^^^^n  *»  re- 

vice.  .hf^aV^T  hle^"  7o„ro'Xo.l,e/"S 

duke     ThfdvSstv  n/X   '*'  S'ft'With  the  title  of 
ne  dynasty  of  Chow,  which  existed  long  be- 

Ch;„J!;Teljt,?lliS^  "f  r.pr6,  Confucius,  and 

China  in  the  Ency.BriVotv"^*^'  l''?!'^  f"""""  'he  «'«cle 
VI.  to  which  we  are  maily  Mebted        '^''*  "'  Confuciu.  in  VoL 


II 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS. 


".5 


fore  and  after  the  timp  «f  r  r  • 
centuries  and  a  quarter  after  h^'n""'  l'"'^'^  *^° 
sovereign  of  the\ew  dyta/tv  of  T  *'•  ^^'  ^''' 
ciently  strong  to  sweep  awavth«  °..^V"  ^^^  suffi- 
and  to  unite  the  colTtr^7J^id^;  •I'^'^^f^^d^l  system. 
which  continues  to  tj^  ™^J"?.^  ^^5^*  empire. 

memories,  and  especially  that  of  Vn^?"  •    "'  ^"''^"' 
chief  obstacles   ij  the  wav  !.?f  ,.  "'^"'''"''  "^^'^  the 

people  to  the  new  order'ofth  n^s'^  ^re^""'""^  *^^ 
eign  endeavoured  to  destrovVh^  ^^  "^^  sover- 
signing  to  the  flames  all  th7ancren't  bn  Tt'  ^^  ^°"- 
Confucius  had  drawn  much  of  h?«  •  J''''  ^'°"'  "^^'^^ 
>ng  alive  hundreds  of  h^s  schoi?  !  ''lf'^°'"'  ^"^  ^ury- 
swear  by  his  name.  But  this  sta?e  of  ?h^'''  '"'"^y  *° 
temporary,  and  a  new  PmL  r     *'""Ss  was  only 

true  policVto  honoS  "hf  Srof'^'r  ''  *°  '^  '''^ 
try  to  save  everything  possibrfr  ^°"^"^'"s.  and  to 
ancient  books  ^  Possible  from  the  wreck  of  the 

ofIhe%S?.^£°K°old^er'^^^^^^^ 

sessed  a  comparatL^y  ii?h  2  "  ""^ '^!  ^^'"''^  P°«- 

and  were  not  ignorant  sJil     P^  of  civilisation. 

Egypt,  in  Babyffiand?n?h?na<^^^^  '"^^""     ^" 
of  history  does  not  rise  uoon'fi^  '        '"°''"'ng  dawn 

atraceofhim.butupSieducateHV^''^^^  Pf  °"  ^^e" 
possessed  a  knowledge  of  WW?  nf'!JT"!!'"^^'  ^^ich 
siderable  progress  if  %hl  I  ^'  ^"**  ^^'^  ^^^^  con- 
the  earlies?  kn'Jwn  ^er  od  Chfna  "h  f '''''''  ^'^"^ 
literature  of  its  owf  ust  ««  a  ^=,^.  ^  considerable 
the  opposite  or  wrst;rn  side  o^  a!- '^  ^"5'  ^^^°'  «t 
appear  as  if  the  peoples  of  thL^'*'  *"^  '*  *°"Jd 
rise  upon  histor/ a?  times  nnf     *^°,<=°"ntries  first 

only  a  few  centu^es  at  the  m"  s  I?/"""  T""'  ^"'^ 
ologistputs  his  pickaxe  r.^  ^^ever  the  archa- 
China.  it  is  not  by  any  means  T^^  j"*?  the  soil  of 
Possir.:iity  that  tL  iLTarrremSs  *J'  '^^""^^  °^ 
People,  wh.  were  contempXary  S  the  f  "!i^''"* 
will  be  unearthed.     There  ar^^r^VT    ^  ^ccadians, 


176    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


Jll  iJli  \ 


upon  the  banks  of  the  Yellow  River,  were  one  of  the 
original  language  groups  who  repeopled  the  world 
after  the  Deluge.  What  the  earliest  religion  of  China 
was  is  hid  amidst  its  pre-historic  mists.  But  there 
can  be  very  little  doubt  that  it  was  the  pure  monothe- 
ism derived  from  Noah  and  his  sons.  The  Chinese 
do  not  appear  to  have  ever  developed  religious  opin- 
ions with  any  great  degree  of  force  and  firmness; 
and  have,  therefore,  always  been  susceptible  to  new 
teachings.  Their  original  religion,  as  we  know  it 
from  history  and  tradition,  while  it  could  not  be 
regarded  as  purely  monotheistic,  approaches  very 
closely  to  it  There  "were  no  polytheistic  features 
about  it ;  the  Chinese  people  never  regarding  spirits 
or  deceased  ancestors  as  gods.  On  the  contrary, 
they  have  throughout  their  known  history  clearly  and 
explicitly  acknowledged  the  unity  of  the  Divine 
nature.  Had  they,  in  like  manner,  acknowledged  the 
spirituality,  personality,  and  transcendence  of  the 
Divine,  their  monotheism  would  have  been  placed 
beyond  all  dispute.  But  they  had  broken  away  from 
what  was,  no  doubt,  their  original  form  of  belief  to  a 
much  less  degree  than  the  contemporary  nations  of 
Western  Asia. 

This  brief  review  of  some  of  the  conditions  of  the 
ancient  world,  will  enable  our  readers  to  realise  more 
clearly  how  immeasurably  superior  the  religion  of 
the  Jews  was  to  the  religions  of  the  heathen  na- 
tions, which  encompassed  them  on  all  sides;  and, 
also,  how  immeasurably  superior  their  Scriptures  were 
to  the  religious  writings  of  contemporary  peoples, 
or  to  those  profane  scriptures  which  belong  to  more 
recent  periods.  We  have  seen,  although  necessarily 
to  a  limited  extent,  but  at  the  same  time  sufficient 
for  the  object  in  view,  what  the  Buddhist  scriptures 
teach,  what  the  Hindoo  scriptures  teach,  what  the 
Mohammedan  scriptures  teach,  and  what  the  Chinese 
scriptures  teach;  and  now  see  how  immeasurably 
higher  than  them  all  stand  the  teachings  of  the  He- 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS. 


177 


brew  Scriptures,  and  of  the  Christian's  Bible.  We 
can  also  see  more  clearly,  that  when  persons  institute 
comparisons  between  the  Old  Testament  scriptures, 
or  the  Bible  as  a  whole,  and  the  religious  books 
of  ancient  or  modern  heathen  nations  unfavourable 
to  the  former,  their  comparisons  can  only  result  from 
the  most  profound  ignorance  of  what  they  are  talking 
about,  or  the  sceptical  wickedness  embodied  in  the 
desire  to  deceive  and  mislead  their  hearers. 


}    ■ 


13 


CHAPTER  IX. 


■ill 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS. 

When  we  approach  the  study  of  the  cosmological 
question  of  the  origin  of  the  universe,  we  are  com- 
pelled, by  Its  environments,  to  regard  that  question 
from  one  particular  standpoint,  namely,  that  there 
"I"?,  netessarily  have  been  a  genesis  or  "Beginning 
of  liiiiigs    at  some  period  or  periods  of  time.    The 
finite  human  mind  is  wholly  unable  to  grasp  the  idea 
of  anything  in  nature,  as  regards  mere  matter,  atomic 
or  otherwise,  which  h4d  always  existed  as  it  exists 
now;  and  the  limits  of  its  comprehension,  accord- 
ingly, cannot  rise  beyond  a  beginning  and  an  end. 
Ihe  infinite  and  eternal  is  an  unsolved  problem  to 
man,  and  must  always  remain   unsolved;   and  he 
IS  incapable,  as  a  consequence,  to  realise  the  true 
character  of  a  wonderful  Supreme  Being  who  has 
neither  a  beginning  nor  an  end  — who  has  existed 
tor  ail  time,  and  will  continue  to  exist  for  all  time  • 
who  IS  the  great  first  cause,  with  whom  all  celestial 
and  terrestrial  forms,  animate  and  inanimate  alike, 
originated.     It  cannot  accordingly  be  a  matter  of 
much  wonder  that  the  great  cardinal  and  self-evident 
•  J  ,°u,    .^^^'""'"S  of  Things  should  have  left  an 
indelible  impression  on  the  minds  and  memories  of 
the  human  race  in  all  parts  of  the  world.     In  a  few 
cases,   the   remembrance  has  a  clear  and   distinct 
character;  in  others  it  only  glimmers  faintly  in  tra- 
dition, or  in  still  remoter  myth,  but  always  pointing 
in  the  same  direction.    In  almost  every  nation  under 
heaven,  from  the  first  dawn  of  existence,  there  has 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS.        179 

so  uniform  l^lglntaTZ!^'^'';  '^^''  ^^'^  « 
to  a  common  oriirn  ~  or  ffn^f"  *^  *°  P°'"t  =I"rly 
kno«r  that  the  peoSesTf  the'  iS^  ?"'''t.  ^*^  "^^ 
generally,  trad.^^s  or  mX  of^l^^^^^  ^^^'  ^^O' 

in  cases  where  men  had  fVnm  I  Creation.  Even 
abandoned  the  Twmevl'/Sr^"^  "".«?  or  another, 
fallen   into  savage  life  ^nH  °^«vilisation,  and 

naturally  continuf  to  be  actaTeTb  ')%■  "°"'^  ^*'" 
osity  as  to  the  origin  of  the  wor./  ^?'"^' °^  *=""' 
sun  and  moon,  of  the  stars  of  heaven '  n°ffi'"^"V  °J  '^^ 
The  consciousness  that  all  tL=!  *if •'  °^?'^'  ^^  death, 
a  first  commencement  ?„  !™  *'''"^'  ^^^  ^^^n^how 
with  themselves.  sTems  to  h,      ^^""^'^  "°t  ^"ting 

^>th   the  huma;   ra?e  Tn  eve^'^T  ^^^P^^^^^"' 
existence.  ^^^"^^  stage  or  form  of 

the^'eSiiniTof  Thfnl  ?  'T*"'".^  ^^^  ^^^  '^ea  of 
of  savSe  nations     rS'^fr'^P.^  '^^^'^  '"  ^^e  myths 

Australil  beSe  rtat  the  earti^l"?  °'7if*°"^'  '" 
creator.     Another  A.,»fror  ^^  '"^^^^  ^y  a  bird- 

the  men  of  Told  and  lutw  "^""^^^  ^'^'^  '«  *at 
The  Bushmen  of  SoutS^l^SaT,^"'^"  ?^  ^^^d. 
the  mantis  insect,  caused  a"  tJ?,„^^lf  ^e  *^^'  ^agn. 

cording  to  the  Iriquofs  of  North TmerV^PP'^''-  ^*=- 
woman  was  thrown  out  of  hH         *'"i^  ^"  ^"gelic 

turtle,  which  therdevelonedfn?o"k*"'^  H'  "P°"  ^ 
next-door  neighbours  the  R^-n  i^%  ''^'^^-  ^heir 
a  single  island,  in  S  rnidst  of  ?J"'^'^"''  ^^'^  ^J^^' 

gradually  expa^dedTn'toTeXle^t^^^^^^^ 

a  Central  American   tribe    sav  Tho;  iu    ThePimas, 

madebyapowerful  be?n^'=.nJ?f  ^^^  ^^"^  ^as 
a  spider's  we^  The  IkS^i'l'^^^PP^^^^d  "ke 
Columbia,  hold  that  in  the  W  "*^'^"''  °^  B"«sh 
but  water   and  that  a  t    ^^^S'""'"g  "ought  existed 


s.  r 


m 


.1 


.■i! 


it 


180    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

Zealanders  are  in  possession  of  ancient  hymns,  in 
which  the  origin  of  things  is  traced  back  to  dark- 
ness, and  to  a  metaphysical  process  from  nothing  to 
something.  The  Algonquin  Indians,  of  Canada, 
believed  in  the  existence  of  a  great  spirit,  who  made 
all  things  by  the  power  of  his  will,  and  afterwards 
formed  two  spirits,  one  good,  the  other  evil,  who 
continually  strove  for  mastery.*  The  ancient  Chinese 
belief  of  the  creation  of  the  world  asserts  that  all 
material  things  sprang  from  two  great  male  and 
female  persons,  the  Ying  and  the  Yang,  who  in  their 
turn  gave  existence  to  Tai  Keih,  or  the  first  cause. 
From  the  union  of  Ying  and  Yang  all  existences, 
both  animate  and  inanimate,  had  been  produced. 
The  heavens,  the  sun,  the  day,  were  considered  to  be 
of  the  male  gender :  the  earth,  the  moon,  the  night, 
of  the  female  gender.  In  British  India  the  Brah- 
minical  doctrine  sets  forth  that  Prajapati  (the  uni- 
verse) was  one  being,  and  formed  animals  from  his 
breath,  and  man  from  his  soul.  According  to  the 
Bamian  people  of  the  same  country,  God  having 
made  the  world  and  the  creatures  belonging  to  it 
created  man,  who  came  forth  from  the  earth  at  the 
Divine  voice,  his  head  appearing  first,  and  then  the 
whole  body,  into  which  life  was  conveyed.  God 
gave  him  for  a  companion  a  woman,  and  the  two 
lived  together  as  man  and  wife  feeding  on  the  fruits 
of  the  ground.  They  had  four  sons  of  different 
temperaments,  for  whom  God  made  four  women, 
and  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth  were  peopled  by 
their  progeny.  The  Zoroastrian  doctrine  of  ancient 
Persia  teaches  that  an  original  principle  or  power, 
with  an  eternal  existence,  created  all  things,  and 
among  the  rest  Hormuzd,  the  source  of  all  good, 
and  Ahriman,  or  Satan,  the  source  of  all  evil.  The 
earlier  Egyptians  believed  in  one  God,  the  creator 
of  heaven  and  earth;  but  at  a  later  period,  when 

1  Robertson's  America,  p.  182.    McMullen's  History  of  Canada, 
Introduction,  Vol.  I.  p.  29. 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS.        i8i 


they  sank  into  polytheism,  Ra  or  the  sun  god,  K!.em, 
Kneph  and  Phta,  were  all  regarded  as  creators 
in  different  classes.  The  Etrurian  branch  of  the 
ancient  Italians,  held  that  the  creation  of  the  world 
tools  place  in  six  periods  of  a  thousand  years  each, 
and  that  after  all  other  things  had  appeared  man 
was  created ;  an  idea  which  approached  very  closely 
to  the  Hebrew  cosmogony.  According  to  the  Lama 
creed  of  the  Calmuck  Tartars,  men  lived  in  the  first, 
or  holy  and  happy  age  of  the  world,  for  80,000  years. 
Then  a  greedy  man  tasted  of  a  forbidden  sweet  plant, 
when  a  sense  of  shame  was  awakened,  and  people 
covered  themselves  with  the  leaves  of  trees.  Man's 
age  and  size  then  decreased,  virtue  fled,  and  all 
manner  of  vice  prevailed.  The  Greek  myths  are 
remotely  parallel.  Zeus  is  the  creator.  Hesiod  de- 
scribes the  primitive  condition  of  man  as  one  free 
from  toil,  sickness,  and  all  kinds  of  evil.  Prometheus 
deceived  Zeus,  and  stole  fire  from  heaven.  For  this 
larceny  he  was  twice  punished  by  Zeus,  and  a  woman. 
Pandora,  sent  to  him  by  the  latter,  became  the  source 
of  man's  evils,  as  the  original  mother  of  the  human 
race.  Ovid  paints  the  Golden  Age  in  the  same 
manner  as  Hesiod,  but  with  more  details. 

The  Babylonian  accounts  of  the  Creation,  which 
have  awakened  such  profound  interest  among  Biblical 
readers  in  recent  years,  come  down  to  us  from  two 
sources.  One  of  these  is  the  Chaldean  history  of 
Berosus ;  the  other  the  cuneiform  tablets  found  dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  the  past  century  amid  the  ruins 
of  Borsippa  and  of  the  great  libraries  collected  by 
Sennacherib  and  his  grandson,  Assurbanipal,  at  Nine- 
veh. Sennacherib  will  readily  be  remembered  as  the 
Assyrian  monarch  who  invaded  Judea  701  years  B.  C. ; 
and  whose  army,  of  185,000  officers  and  men,  was 
miraculously  slain  by  an  angel  in  a  single  night,  in 
answer  to  the  prayer  of  King  Hezekiah  (2  Kings 
xix.  35).  He  was  among  the  greatest  rulers  of  As- 
syria, and  the  palace,  which  he  built  for  himself  at 


i; 


»ai 


U 


I82    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


'  I 


h 


I 


his  capital,  was  one  of  the  most  magnificent  struc- 
tures of  ancient  times.  One  portion  of  this  palace 
was  given  up  to  the  great  library  of  Nineveh,  the 
most  important  then  in  existence.  It  contained  the 
historical  and  other  writings  of  the  foremost  authors 
of  that  day,  and  also  copies  of  the  works  of  preced- 
ing ages  gathered  by  Sennacherib  from  every  direc- 
tion. Some  of  his  messengers  were  sent  to  the 
ancient  city  of  Borsippa,  in  Babylonia,  where  in  its 
temple  library  they  found  Sargon's  cuneiform  tablets 
relating  to  the  Creation  and  the  Deluge,  of  which 
exact  copies  were  made,  and  deposited  in  the  Nine- 
veh library.  Twenty  years  after  the  loss  of  his  army 
in  Judea,  Sennacherib  was  murdered  by  two  of  his 
sons,  while  worshipping  in  the  temple  of  his  god 
Nisroch  and  was  succeeded  by  a  younger  son,  Esar- 
haddon  ( Assurhaddon) ,  whose  reign  was  of  only 
five  years'  duration.  He  was  succeeded  in  turn  by 
Assurbanipal,  who  must  have  been  a  young  man 
when  he  ascended  the  throne,  as  his  reign  lasted  for 
forty-two  years,  and  until  625  years  B,  c.  He  was  the 
greatest  of  all  the  Assyrian  kings,  a  liberal  patron  of 
the  arts  and  sciences,  and  added  extensively  to  the 
library  of  Sennacherib,  a  part  of  which  he  eventually 
had  removed  to  a  magnificent  new  palace  which  he 
built  for  himself.  In  the  year  606  B.C.,  nineteen 
years  after  the  death  of  Assurbanipal,  Nineveh  was 
captured  by  the  Babylonians  and  Medes,  when  all  its 
great  buildings  were  burned,  and  it  became  a  mass 
of  shapeless  ruins.  The  Assyrian  Empire  fell  with  its 
capital,  in  accordance  with  the  prophecy  of  Nahum 
made  ninety-three  years  before  (Nahum  iii.  7).  Zeph- 
aniah  had  also  prophesied  the  utter  destruction  of 
Nineveh  and  Assyria  (Zeph.  ii.  13,  14).^ 

The  Chaldean  historian  Berosus,  in  his  account 
of  the  Creation,  states  that  in  the  beginning  all  was 
darkness  and  water,  and  therein  were  generated  mon- 

1  Maspero's  Ancient  History,  pp.  149-166.  Geikie's  Hours  with 
the  Bible,  Vol.  I.  p.  33.    Ency.  Brit.,  Vol.  IIT.  p.  i86. 


m 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS        183 

strous  animals  of  strange  and  peculiar  forms.    The-: 
were  men  with  two  wings  and  two  faces ;  others  with 
two  heads;   a  man  and  a   woman  in   one  b?dy; 
men  with  the  heads  and  horns  of  a  goat;  other  i-^en 
with  hoofs  like  horses ;  bulls  with  human  heads ;  dogs 
with  four  bodies  and  fishes'  tails.     Moreover  there 
were  monstrous  fishes,  reptiles,  and  serpents;    and 
divers  other  creatures  who  had  borrowed  something 
from  each  other's  shapes,  of  all  which  the  likenesses 
were  still  preserved  in  the  temple  of  Belus.    A  woman, 
by  name  Omorka,  which  is  in  Chaldee  Thalath,  and 
in  Greek  Thalassa,  or  the  Sea,  ruled  them  all.     The 
god  Belus  appeared  and  split  the  woman  in  twain,  and 
of  the  one  half  he  made  the  heavens  and  of  the  other 
half  the  earth ;  and  the  beasts  that  were  in  her  he 
caused  to  perish.     And  he  also  split  the  darkness,  and 
divided  the  heaven  and  the  earth  asunder,  and  put  the 
world  in  order;  and  the  animals  that  could  not  bear 
the  light  perished.    Seeing  that  the  earth  was  deso- 
late, yet  teeming  with  productive  powers,  Belus  com- 
manded one  of  the  gods  to  cut  off  his  head,  and  to  mix 
the  blood  which  flowed  forth  with  earth,  and  form 
men  therewith,  and  beasts  that  could  bear  the  liglit. 
So  man  was  made,  and  was  an  intelligent  being  —  a 
partaker  of  the  Divine  wisdom.    Likewise  Belus  made 
the  stars,  and  the  sun.  and  the  moon.^    This  is  no  doubt 
the  correct  version  of  the  Babylonian  traditions  of  the 
Creation,  as  they  stood  at  the  time  (310  years  B.  c.) 
when  Berosus  wrote  his  Chaldean  history,  and  shows 
very  clearly  that  he  had  no  knowledge  of  Sargon's 
Creation  and  Deluge  tablets  at  Borsippa,  which  most 
probably  had  been  destroyed  long  before  during  one 
of  the  numerous  sieges  of  Babylon,  of  which  Borsippa 
was  a  distant  suburb,  and  well  situated  for  the  head- 
quarters of  a  besieging  army.     It  will  be  noticed  by 
the  reader  that  the  darkness  and  water,  described  by 
Berosus,   as  existing   at  the   beginning,   harmonise 
with  the  Biblical  narrative.     His  additional  fabulous 

1  Religions  of  the  Ancient  World,  sec.  69. 


i 
I 


III 


m 


CM 


184    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

CrSo?7^.r  ?™u*t*  Babylonian  traditions  of  the 

hJ^nm  •  ^T^  "^^""^  ^^  ***  »'°°«  acquainted,)  had 
become  in  the  progress  of  time. 

N.Tilh"'"'  °^*^^  ^'■"*  P^*"  °f  Sennacherib,  at 
Nmeveh,  were  discovered  by  Uyard  in  1847  but 
were  then  only  partially  explo'red.  ^n  OctoS.^;84S 

ISS^t  5^*'"  'fu"'"^*'  *>"  *°''*'  ^J^i<=h  proceeded 
steadily  during  the  two  succeeding  years.  Seventy 
rooms  of  the  palace  were  explored,  including  ?he 
art  t^H'tK**"'^  Pnccless  sculptures,  smaller  works  of 
fhl'  fil*  *''°"""^»  of  tablets  were  discovered.  Among 
Shli^!  kTI^  fragments  of  the  Creation  and  Delugf 
tS  r  h'  "V''""  ""identified,  as  the  knowledge  of 
their  decipherment  had  still  to  be  acquired     Thev 

?ro'r~%"*"f^^°"l!^  ^y^'  celebrated  As.yrologist^ 
wSerf  th.v  h;;K  '^T''"'-  °^  '^'  British  \.useum 
Tn  n!       I  had  been  deposited  on  arrival  at  London 
In  December,  1853,  the  ruins  of  the  palace  of  Assur- 

edu"S?l7r  .^'«^°Xf  «d  by  Hormu^zd  Rassam  /„ 
educated   Syrian,  who  was  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson's 

l?J'T'^i-'^^'  "^'^^  ^^^  '""'t  that  large  anS  °m! 
portant  additions  were  made  to  the  Assyrian  depart- 
ment of  the  British  Museum.    Rassam  penetrated 

Selie't^h  '^'^^y'  ^here  additional  Creation  and 
Deluge  tablets  were  found,  which  were  also  in  a 
broken  and  fragmentary  condition.      An  important 

w^s  ;.f/"^'"^:'.*'  ^^'""^  ''^'"^•"'^d  behind  unnoticed. 
^?.A-  'If  ^^.^'^^  ""eeovered,  in  May.  1873.  by  the 
mdefatigabe  George  Smith;  who  also  became  the 
first  translator  of  these  archaeological  treasures.   There 
were  SIX  Creation  tablets,  one  for  each  day  of  the 
week,  and  a  seventh  tablet  which   related   to  the 
institutionof  the  sabbath;  of  all  of  which  three  im- 
fnH  a!  '   k  ^?"/°""d  in  the  libraries  of  Sennacherib 
and  Assurbanipal.     These  tablets  had  been  written  in 
uniform  succession ;  each  one  containing  the  narrative 
where  it  had  been  left  off  by  the  preceding  tablet.    As 
latorl^  S  ""  ^'  determined  by  the  more  fecent  trans- 
lators,  they  were  written  in  the  following  order:  — 


4: 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS.        ,85 

darkneM.  *"'  *"**  »»•  »*'  b«tween  light  and 

creation  of  man.  ""''  *'"•  "•"P'»«  «»»ings,  and  finally  ih« 


I 

3. 
3- 
4- 

I: 
I- 

9- 
10. 
II. 
I  a. 

«3- 


""Vrra?  *""  '"«  ^»y«  ""«"  the  god.  A«ar  and  Ki„ar 
The  god  Anu. 


differing  in  detirfromie^^^^  ''"^""*^-  While 
with  it  VrelSisTe  chaJ^.?','f.?^  '*  "^rees 

existed  atthe  firet  Thr  Nn«  ^  '^^^u?*^  "**"'«  ^*^''ch 
of  the  earth  out  of  space  Trlff'^'r"?  ^'^^  ^^«^«°n 
cral  tenor  in  both  ^Ss  it'lol'^"  '"'""  S^"" 
existing  order  of  thini/rn,./  °*  accounts  the 
theTehemof  thl  Q^  -^t  ^'^^''^/''om  a  watery  chaos  -- 

'  Houra  with  the  Bible.  Vol.  I.  p.  36. 


i   .  ,'* 


i  i 


186    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

tradition  has  no  higher  conception  than  that  none  of 
the  ffods  were  made,  and  that  the  great  gods  Lahmu 
and  Lahuroa,  male  and  female,  were  afterwards  born, 
to  be  followed  m  due  time  by  numerous  lesser  deities 

trJSir; K  '^'"  u°'^l^"^¥-  ?»"»  ^*  ««•  that  the 
tradition  has  no  higher  idea  of  the  Divine  nature  than 
IS  .nvolved  m  the  difference  of  sex.  and  people, 
heaven  with  male  gods  and  female  goddesses.    Tantu 

cLn,^'  TK-  '^'*'"  u  ^  ^''y/'  ^^^^  Mummu.  that  is 
Chaos.    This  again  brings  forth  Lahmu  and  Lahamu, 

Inr!„^'.'"vP  '  °iJ°'?^  °'  S'^**'^-  From  Uhmu 
springs  Kis-sar  the  lower  expanse;  from  Lahuma 
the  upper  exoanse.     From  these  again  come  Anu. 

7hi^nl/'  r""*"''  *J\*'"^^  *"^  *he  heaven  produce 
theplanete.  from  which  spring  the  lower  gods.  Bel 
performed  the  duty  of  guardian  of  the  country.     He 

r!!ii  ^."/fu'"^*^''  °^  "'^hes  and  possession^;  and 
also  lord  of  the  mountains.  Ea  was  the  lord  of  the 
ocean,  the  protector  of  good  men;  the  lord  of  the 
houseof  knowledge;  the  lord  of  the  far-seeing  eye. 
who  knows  ^    things.*  *  ^ 

The  seci  '  third,  and  fourth  tablets  have  only  a 
very  remote  importance,  as  regards  the  Biblical 
narrative;  and  their  general  character  may  be  suffi- 
ciently learned  by  the  reader  by  a  reference  to  the 
summary  of  their  contents.  The  fifth  tablet  is.  how- 
ever, of  very  great  importance,  and  tells  us  the  story 
of  the  creation  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  of  the 
making  of  day  and  night.  It  corresponds  with  the 
fourth  day  of  the  Biblical  account.  The  first  twenty- 
four  lines  only  have  been  translated,  and  read  as 
follows :  — 

I.  He  made  pleasant  the  position  of  the  great  god*. 

3.  Ihe  constellations  he  arranged  them ;  the  double  stars  he  fixed. 

i'  TK.7f!  "*  *•"'  ^t"'r^  appointed  the  zodiac  s^  Tver  it 

1  F,„™^S'''S  "'""L''"  "C ~n«e"«tions  by  threes  he*fixed 

S.  iTom  the  day  when  the  year  commenced  to  its  close. 

*  Smith's  Chaldean  Genesis,  p.  6a 


I: 


9> 

10. 

II. 
la. 
»3- 

•4- 

\t 

II 

'9- 
ao. 

SI. 

at. 

«4- 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS.        187 

Not  to  maka  fault  or  trror  of  any  kind, 
vu  '^  o*  B.1  and  Ea  along  Jlth  hteia.lf  h,  (Lud 
Ht  <»P«>«d  fT.«  gatM  on  eiihw  aid.  "*"• 

Tho  bolia  bo  made  atrong  on  the  right  hand  and  left 
Int   .maMhemadeatulrway.     *     »«•««■"<"•«. 
Ml*.T?'?*i*'I.'^  "'»«'*  *«»  ••>'"•  «o  rule  in  the  nishi 
Sf  tttV**  "'"  '"  -•"'•''  •»••  •"«"«  "n«l  the'coming  forth 

M*  il!f.''  "?«»"**V  *'"««« '«".  »>y «»»  dUk  Keep  thou  w&teh 

Homa  thall  thine  forth  to  announce  the  night,  * 

On  the  seventh  day  to  a  disk  it  fills  up.      '    ' 

At*th.t^lm!",H."""  "••.;■>?  *».'  '•'y  '•"  «»  'Wno. 

Shall  dir&.Mlrfrm:'"  •"•  *"'"'""  ''^ "— "  «  '"y  "»i»r 

?k!^  "l^  1'"'  ^  !•••  •"»  »*«°'»  draweat  near. 
Then  the  ahining  of  the  sun  thall  change. 
Seeking  hia  path.  * 

Set  thou  at  by  law  decreed. 

of  IJl4,[°on?i°L'!^  lines  Show  ow  day  was  created  out 
of  night,  and  a  so  the  instructions  given  to  the  moon 
whicil  ,s  mentioned  as  the  illuminator.  The^To 
show  that  the  moon,  which  occupied  the  highest 
tn^  •"  Accadtan  mythology,  was  created  befo  f the 
stin;  whereas,  m  the  Biblical  narrative,  the  sun  ij 
given  the  pnonty     In  Genesis  we  arc  told  that  "God 

T^u^^f'?^  ''^f\'  ^^"^  greater  light  to  rule  the 
day,  and  the  lesser  light  to  rule  the  niiht;  He  made 

the  S.'/'S'     ll:  *^f'*'°"  *°  *«  latter  statement! 
the  tablet  te  Is  us  that  the  stars  were  arranged  in  con- 

stellations  with  the  figures  of  animals,  in  reference  to 

the  astronomical  fancies  of  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac; 

but  both  accounts  agree  that  they  were  designed  for 

T'^^°^c  *?•=  '•'"°"''  ^"'i   ™«^«s"res  of  time     In 
the  belief  that  the  planets  were  living  be  Ws  the 
Accadian  tradition  provides  palaces  fof  them^  but 
M  they  might  possibly  wander  from  their  bourses 
the  great  gods  Bel  and  Hea  were  appointed  to  watch 
over  them,  and  preserve  them  from  Ju^ch  a  m^?ortune 

fhXf^T  "^T  I'^t^i  °"  ^"^  ''Sht  hana.  and  on 
the  left,  through  which  the  luminaries  were  supposed 
to  pass  on  their  rising  and  setting.     The  difference 


! 


P4 


i 


i  I 


ft    f? 


'flu 


W  'if 


I  '    .  l-fe 


188    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

in  the  two  accounts  is  very  important,  affecting  as  it 
does  the  whole  history  of  the  work  of  Creation  on  the 
fourth  day.  While  they  harmonise  in  their  general 
features,  the  details  are  so  entirely  unlike  as  to 
wholly  preclude  the  supposition  that  one  was  copied 
from  the  other. 

The  portion  of  the  fifth  tablet  relating  to  the  crea- 
tion of  the  sun  speaks  of  it  as  the  child  of  the  moon, 
and  further  on  says :  — 

1.  O  lord  illuminator  of  the  darkneu,  opener  of  the  face  of  the  aky. 

2.  Merciful  god  who  letteth  up  the  fallen,  who  keepeth  the  weak. 

3.  Unto  thy  light  turn  the  great  gods. 

4.  The  spirits  of  earth  gaze  towards  thy  face. 
«.  The  tongues  of  the  host  as  one  cry  thou  directest. 

Smiling  their  heads ;  they  look  to  the  light  of  the  tun 
Like  a  wife  thou  art,  glad  and  making  glad. 
Thou  art  a  light  in  the  vault  of  the  far  off  heavens. 
Thou  art  the  eye  centre  of  all  the  wide  spread  lands. 
Men  from  far  and  near  behold  thee  and  rejoice. 

hMw^s  **^*  *"*'*  **"*  '*'**  Mvour,  the  food  of  the  shining 
He  who  hath  not  turned  his  head  to  sin  thou  wilt  prosper. 
He  shall  eat  of  thy  food,  and  be  blessed  by  thee. 

The  inscriptions  on  the  tablet  relating  to  the  sab- 
bath are  very  remarkable,  as,  in  common  with  the 
ordinance  of  the  Jewish  sabbath,  they  lay  down  the 
commandment  that  mankind  shall  abstain  from  all 
labours  and  pleasures  on  that  day.  The  Accadian 
version  of  sabbath  observance,  although  lengthier  and 
much  more  stringent  than  God's  law  prescribes,  in  the 
twentieth  chapter  of  Exodus,  corresponds  very  closely 
with  it.  It  will  be  observed,  that  while  these  wonder- 
ful tablet  revelations  furnish  fuller  information  in 
some  respects  than  the  Biblical  narrative,  they  con- 
firm rather  than  contradict  that  narrative.  The  sab- 
bath tablet  states:  — 


7- 
8. 

9- 
10. 
II. 

12. 

»3- 


'•  '^'j' '5**''*'»  ***y  *"  Merodach  and  Zarpoint,  a  holy  day  or  sab- 

2.  The  Shepherd  of  mighty  nations  must  not  eat  flesh  cooked  at  the 

fire  or  in  the  smoke. 

3.  His  clothes  he  changes  not,  a  washing  he  must  not  make. 

4.  He  must  not  offer  sacrifice. 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS.         189 

Th^king  mu.t  not  drive  in  his  chariot;  he  mu.t  not  U.ue  royid 


,    Mad!HSl*'/''*fk  '''?  .^"«"  *  mutterint 

I:  P'^"^^^^^^  ^<^y  -  -t  not  .pp„. 

10.  The  lifting  of  hi.  hand  find,  favour  with  his  god. 

^Jil^fc'^'*'^"  *?  •*"  '■*^''^'°"'  ^*^**"^"'  this  inscription 
SJ7oc;.t  ""^'r  '"t"««t'"g  picture  of  the  condition 
of  society  over  four  thousand  years  ago.     As  reearda 

or  th^l""'"".?i  '^'  sabbath,  there  w^as  thf  samf  law 
to  ob.v  i"^n  1?''  P"!i'^*'  ""**  '^^t'*  «''ke  were  bot^nd 
nJlZX  ^u'^""  '"°^'^™  ^'""^^  *he  apothecary  could 
not  keep  his  shop  open  on  Sunday.     Even  the  aucuV 

SIvTndT'"'  '°r-^^  "°'  '°"°"  ^'^  vocaSon  on  t^hat 
cuL  or  ,n.n '^^'"'r'  "'^".'^^"Id  not  formulate  a 
curse  or  spell  in  order  to  injure  some  neighbour  he 
had  a  grudge  against.  ^ 

life^and'ii^n  '^^^^'  ''^'''"l^  *°  *^^  *=^«^»*'°"  °f  ani'nal 

t  that  h^KJ    ''!7  •'"i"'''  'nutilated.    The  portion  of 

he  ,ivll  H?    "r*l''Ti'*=''^.^'  *'°*^^"'  compares  with 

«eat.'oi  of  ^^^H*''"  !f°'^'"  ^"°""*'  *"**  t^"«  of  the 

read  thus  f-!  """^  *"'^*'P'"^  **^'"6*-      ^he  lines 

1.  When  the  god.  in  their  auembly  had  created  ereat  bea.t. 

2.  They  made  perfect  the  mighty  mon.ter.  ^    ^  ^"^'■ 
They  cauMd  the  hvinj  creatures  to  come  forth 

iSS^lnt '"'  '"^'  *"'  *""  •^»«'  «'  '^^  «•«<«.  "•«!  th.  cree,. 
5-  Joi"  the  living  creatures. 

8.   Which  lathe  assembly  of  my  ftmily. 

'■  "^  £*.i:;?e°.!r?ng!""'""*  ''"'  '^'  """"'""'  "'  '^'"P-S  «•>•"«» 

state  ^tiarfh'  ^""^  °f  l^^  ?'''"*  '"^  '"  ^"*=h  a  mutilated 
state,  that  the  translators  have  not  been  able  to  make 
out  the  inscriptions.  It  is  here  most  probably  that 
the  full  account  of  the  creation  of  man  was  inscribed 
and  It  IS  hoped  that  other  fragments  of  this  tablet 
may  yet  be  found,  with  the  assistance  of  wl^ch  the 


3- 

4- 


I 

1; 


P  c 


i^ 


IMP' 


i 


U: 


r. 


i 

'if 


190    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

translation  may  be  perfected.  The  lines  that  the 
translators  so  far  have  been  able  to  make  out  read  as 
follows :  — 

"For  thy  redemption  did  he  create  mankind,  even 
he  the  merciful  one  with  whom  is  life."    In  another 
corner  of  the  tablet  are  the  words :  "  Mayest  thou  be 
great,  for  a  noble  companion  art  thou.    Let  thy  man- 
hood be  increased.    With  the   dominion  of  all  the 
gods  I  have  caused  thy  hand  to  be  filled."    These 
lines  most  undoubtedly  apply  to  the  creation  of  man, 
and  their  general  features  harmonise  with  the  Bibli- 
cal account,  although  the  wording  is  entirely  different. 
Farther  down  on  the  tablet  are  the  still  more  wonder- 
ful words:   "Woman  frohi  the  flank  of  man  was 
called,"  —  words  which  accord  with  those  in  the  Bib- 
lical narrative  as  regards  the  creation  of  Eve.    They 
have,  in  addition,  a  most  important  bearing  on  the 
contention  of  the  Higher  Criticism  cult,  which  as- 
sumes that  the  Mosaic  account  of  the  Creation  is  a 
composite  one,  and  the  work  of  at  least  three  different 
writers.    The  first  of  these  is  the  Elohistic  writer  who 
wrote  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis ;   the  second,  the 
Jehovistic  writer,  who  wrote  the  second  and  several 
of  the  subsequent  chapters;  and  the  third  a  priest, 
who  at  a  late  date  of  the  Jewish  national   period 
welded  those  two  narratives  together,  with  additions 
and  emendations  of  his  own.    The  creation  of  Eve 
would,  therefore,  be  in  the  narrative  given  by  the 
second  or  Jehovistic  writer  of  the  Higher  Critics; 
and  the  fact  that  this  event  is  recorded  on  the  tablets 
of  Sargon  I.,  which  were  made  over  nine  centuries  be- 
fore the  exodus  of  the  Israelites  from  Egypt,  entirely 
disproves  their  contention.    The  double  narrative  of 
the   Creation,  the  second   being  no  more  than  the 
complement  and  explanation  of  the  first,  exists  in  the 
Accadian  account  of  the  Creation  just  as  it  does  in 
the  Biblical  account  of  the  Creation,  and  could  not 
therefore  have  been  the  work  of  writers  at  a  late 
period  of  the  Jewish  kingdom,   and  of  a  priestly 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS.        ,9, 

f«llyina,.*dJi^rc£pter,'rSs'tor"Ta,«''-' 
necessary  now  is  to  draw  the  r^^lnil'.         ' ,      "*'  '^ 

to  «.  «T«di„g,y  i  ™"rtS:  fS?"  »  'P^-al  attention 

tab.«,  of  which  tllosrmlt  CsIrgor.rirfco'lJS' 
Jea^°  Xr"S.*A' ,"'  "■l'>"P=''f<'-?a?  Babel  ""eS; 


*!  .  f 


i 


P 

III 


ii 


11 


192    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

builder  like  his  father,  and  no  trace  of  either  of  them 
or  their  descendants  afterwards  appears  in  the 
Abrahamic  period.  In  the  meantime  a  fresh  wave  of 
conquest  had  rolled  from  the  country  eastward  of  the 
Euphrates  towards  the  west.  As  we  gather  from 
Genesis  xiv.  Chedorlaomer,  King  of  Elam,  had  then 
very  fully  established  his  authority,  not  only  over  the 
countries  lying  along  the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris, 
but  also  over  the  countries  extending  beyond  them  to 
the  Mediterranean  Sea.^  A  refusal  to  continue  the 
payment  of  tribute  on  the  part  of  the  King  of  Sodom 
and  other  Canaanite  rulers  led  to  the  invasion  of  their 
country  by  Chedorlaomer  and  his  vassal  kings,  who 
inflicted  a  severe  defeat  upon  them  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  Dead  Sea.  Lot  and  all  his  possessions 
were  carried  off  by  the  conquerors,  to  be  afterwards 
gallantly  rescued  by  Abraham  in  what  was  probably 
a  sudden  night  attack  on  the  rear  guard  of  the 
enemy  which  had  charge  of  the  captured  flocks  and 
herds.  After  the  Assyrian  conquest  of  Babylonia, 
the  latter  country  frequently  rebelled,  and  had  to  be 
repeatedly  reconquered;  and  during  all  these  long 
centuries  of  warfare  the  tablets  deposited  at  Borsippa 
appear  to  have  been  wholly  forgotten  by  the  ancient 
world,  until  they  were  eventually  resurrected  by  the 
messengers  and  copyists  of  Sennacherib,  the  first 
king  of  the  great  warrior  nation  who  had  devoted 
himself  to  any  extent  to  literature.  It  Is  more  than 
probable  that  the  original  Sargon  tablets  were  after- 

j  '^**''*'  inscriptions  and  circumstantial  sources  of  information 
lead  to  the  probable  assumption  that  the  Sareon  I.  dynasty  was  sud- 
denly terminated  by  an  Elamite  conquest  of  Babvlonia  shortly  before 
the  Abrahamic  penod.  Towards  the  close  of  that  period  or  not  very 
long  afterwards  the  Arab  element  became  suflSciently  strong  to  again 
«sert  its  supremacy  in  Asia  Minor,  and  under  the  leadership  of 
Khammurabi,  defeated  the  Elamites,  and  put  an  end  to  their  au- 
thority. Khammurabi  appears  to  have  firmly  consolidated  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  country,  and  to  have  put  an  end  to  its  numerous  petty 
kmgdoms  which  hitherto  created  such  confusion  in  its  historical 
records.  Hammurabi,  the  contemporary  of  Abraham,  belonged  to  the 
new  dynasty,  and,  like  its  founder,  left  numerous  tablet  records  and 
inscriptions  behind  him;  among  the  rest  a  code  of  laws. 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS.        ,93 

hme  of  Cyrus,  that  ensued  forthe  possess  on  of  Baby! 
on  as  no  subsequent  inscriptions  ever  aUude  to 
them,  nor  were  they  ever  mentioned  by  any  of  the 
Hebrew  prophets  or  historians,  during,  ^or  before  or 
after  the  period  of  the  CAntivitv     tuL       ",^*^rc,  or 

for.Senna'cherib  as  welfrSe  madeX  aTsu'^ 
ban.pal  were  buried  from  sight  in  the  ^h^s  of 
loS^-^"""  '°"'^  "500  years^  and  u^'il  ^  "Lt 
logical  discovery  restored  them  to  mankind  a  few 
decades  ago.    Even  Berosus,  as  already  stated  Z 

Tnf?^'"  1°  ''"°T  «">^h'"S  whateJeraboutlhem 
as  o  herwise  he  would  have  certainly  alluded  to  them 
m  his  accounts  of  the  Creation  and  (he  Deluge  No^ 
were  they  ever  mentioned  by  any  Greek  or  other 
heathen  author  of  ancient  times.  ^There  was  never 

Th  VkT^"'''^'*^*"^'''"^  between  the  EtyptLn 
and  Babylonian  nations.     They  were  aliens  ^««^ 

Whatever  reciprocal  commercial  intercourse  might 
arise  at  intervals  between  them  was  always  orettv 

cl^s'e  bui? '"'^°f•*'^  Phcenicians.  whSntS 
close  business  relations  with  both  countries  The 
tule  of  empire  rolled  constantly  over  its  bat?le"grounds 

Xe  Eu'nS;.^/''''!;"''  "i*'^"^  ^^^^  Egypt  eastward  to 
the  Euphrates  and  at  times  beyond  it^  or  from  the 
Euphrates  westward  to  the  Mediter/anean  The 
fierce  struggle  for  supremacy  was  renew-d  awin  anH 

SV:3^fbi,r -^J^  '°'*"^  feelinTwhTren' 
Sated  «;h  1.5  ^.u"^^"' •"*'^"  ^*  *"y  t'-ne  wholly 
abated,  and  led  to  the  maintenance  of  large  standina 

fTL\^'  ""'^^^  instruments  of  irresponslle  despot^ 
io^ld  £^  an<='ent  world,  when  the  balance  of  power 
could  be  so  quickly  disturbed,  and  when  might  was 
alone  needed  to  establish  fully  the  right  ^ 
«J^l  »;f  evidence  in  the  case  goes  to  prove,  that 
aSw°'''  nor  any  other  Hebrew  write?,  from  the 
coJlf T\ru^  *°  J?"P^"«  '"^'"sive.  had.  or 
could  possibly  have,  any  knowledge  whatever  of  the 

13 


ii 


P 
11 


194    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

existence  of  the  Sargon  and  Assurbanipal  Creation 
and  Deluge  tablets,  or  of  their  contents ;  and  that,  con- 
sequently, these  tablets  could  never  have  been  made 
use  of,  in  any  way,  as  the  foundation  of  the  Biblical 
account  of  the  Beginning  of  Things.    We  can  now  see 
very  plainly  that  the  story  of  the  Creation  has  come 
down  to  us  along  two  separate  lines  of  communication, 
each  wholly  independent  of  the  other,  but  each  con- 
firming the  truth  of  that  story.    The  double  accounts 
differ  in  minor  details  at  times,  and  agree,  at  times,  on 
the  more  important  issues ;  but  their  general  features 
harmonise  so  closely  as  to  prove,  beyond  all  manner 
of  doubt  or  uncertainty,  that  both  accounts  sprang 
from  the  same  source.    The  question  as  to  what  that 
source  was  now  necessarily  presents  itself  for  our 
consideration.      The  true  record  of  any  event  or 
transaction  can  alone  be  made  by  the  witness  or 
witnesses  present  when  it  takes  place.    In  the  begin- 
ning when  God  created  the  universe  out  of  nothing,, 
there  was  no  human  eye  in  existence  to  witness  the 
progress  of  his  amazing  work  — no  reporter  there 
with  note-book  in  hand  to  chronicle,  for  the  informa- 
tion of  posterity,  the  unfolding,  at  the  Divine  will, 
of  one  wonderful  physical  development  after  another. 
The  only  witnesses  present  at  the  time,  or  rather 
times,   of  the  Creation  were  God  himself  and  his 
ministering  angels;  and  these  witnesses,  therefore, 
were  alone  in  possession  of  all  the  stupendous  facts, 
and  alone  competent  to  give  us  an  account  of  them. 
That  is  a  self-evident  fact,  which  cannot  be  ignored 
or  set  aside  in  any  form.    One  plain  conclusion  alone 
springs  therefrom,  and  that  is  that  God,  or  some 
angel  at  his  command,  communicated  the  narrative 
of  the  Creation  to  Adam,  or  to  some  favoured  de- 
scendant of  his,  for  transmission  to  posterity.     That 
narrative,  in  its  original  and  true  form,  was  no  doubt 
carried  by  Noah  and  his  sons  across  the  Flood,  to 
be   afterwards   corrupted   by  their  descendants,  the 
Accadians,  who  continued  to  reside  in  the  land  of 


m 


I : 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS        ,95 

t?e'"fi"af  H„k^1„%"r?-  ?°»*  P'^^P'^  ^^r'n^cl 
which  the  corVZ^H  .^^'"  c^  communication,  by 
tJ«.  «f  ?if  "*'^™P*««^'  yet  confirmatory,  tablet  narra- 
tive  of  the  true  account  of  the  Creation  has  reach?H 
our  own  day     Their  abandonment  of  the  wo  ship  of 

nste°ad'  a'n^d  S°- '  ff!'  l^°P*'°"  °^  *  nature-  eHg^ion 
instead,  and  their  fall  otherwise  into  idolatrous  anH 
gross  y  superstitious  practices,  gradually  lid  to  the 
clouding  of  the  original  narr;tive  of  the  Great  on 
and  of  the  Deluge,  and  of  the  histo^r  of  the  worW 
between  those  epochs  intrusted  to  their  keepL     A 

?or  th^iXrJfr''"''^:!  •'^'"^'"'  »"^"'"<^   "ecSsary 

cImmiS  t"';?  '^Te'''^'^^'^^^^^       o?g,7" 
committed  to  the  safe-keeping  of  the  Hebrew  race 

toM'  ''Tl*  °[?"  mankind.^  There  is  no  evTde„ce 
to  show  that  this  revelation  was  made  either  to 
Abraham  or  any  of  his  immediate  descendants  and 
the  presumption  strongly  points  to  the  fact  tha?  5 
was  made  by  God  hinfsilf  directly  to  Moses  durna 
the  long  stay  of  the  latter  for  eighty  days  on  Moinf 
Smai.  It  contains  all  that  God  conspired  k^T. 
neces^iry  that  man  should  know  as  regtds  h^ 
wS'^thr-^'  r  ^  P'"'"  ^''^<=t  narrative^of  facts 

not  seek    fo^f'"'  """  ^""^  comprehend,  and  does 
not  seek,  for  a  moment,  to  teach  us  anv  scienfSfi^ 

of  rnH?'  ?'  P^''«°?«''V.  and  the  moral  govern^ 

the^?uA  o  "^h'atT.^^  f  'J?  uP'^'"  ^''''  suLtantiaTng 
for  ii  .  -f  '*^*""'^'  ?''"*=''  "O"'  present  themselves 
for  the  consideration  of  Biblical  students  no  other 
conclusion  can  be  arrived  at  than  that  those  who 

*  Hours  with  the  Bible,  Vol.  I.  p.  21. 


t  I 


l! 

r 


m 


!'f 


I  I 


196    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

reject  it  altogether,  or  place  it  only  on  a  par  with 
such  moral  allegories  as  Esop's  fables  or  other  kin- 
dred literature,  whether  sacred  or  profane,  are  guilty 
of  setting  aside  a  direct  revelation  of  God  made  to 
mankind.  Those  w  nderful  Accadian  tabl'-ts,  sup- 
plying sound  circumstantial  evidence  of  that  revela- 
tion, and  hid  from  the  world  for  thousands  of  years, 
have  most  providentially  come  to  light,  at  a  period 
of  much  scriptural  doubt  and  difficulty,  as  the  mute 
witnesses  of  great  scriptural  truths. 

We  are  now  in  a  position,  at  this  stage   of  our 
argument,  to    approach  the    consideration  of   the 
Beginning  of  Things, from  a  solely  Biblical  stand- 
point.   And  in  doing  so  we  must  wholly  discard,  in 
the  first  place,  all  merely  speculative  scientific  ideas. 
In  our  chapter  on  geology  we  have  clearly  shown 
that  as  a  science  it  does  not  supply  us  with  either 
a  beginning  or  an  end,  that  its  teachings  come  to  us 
in  an  indefinite  and  uncertain  form,  that  it  cannot 
give  fixed  periods  for  any  of  its  -rocesses,  and  that 
it  is,  therefore,  of  no  practical  value  whatever  when 
we  come  to  consider  the  creative  products  of  a  great 
First  Cause.      The  doctrine   of  evolution,  as  pro- 
pounded  by  the  atheism  of   ancient  and   modern 
times,  still  remains  in  embryo  as  a  mere  philosophical 
speculation,  wholly  destitute  of  proof,  and  with  so 
many  contradictory  elements  within  itself,  that  it  is 
entitled  to  no  serious  consideration,  from  any  point 
of  view,  in  connection  with  a  Beginning  of  Things. 
Evolution  may  in  a  limited  way  account  for  some 
processes  in  natural  physics,  but  it  always  rests  on 
the  supposition  of  pre-existent  matter,  and  has  no 
explanation  to  offer  of  the  operations  of  a  First  Cause 
which  produces  something  out  of  nothing,  and  creates 
worids  out  of  mere  space  by  the  simple  exercise  of 
its  own  sovereign  will. 

It  is  a  great  mental  relief  to  turn  from  the  idle 
suppositions  of  speculative  science  to  the  sublime 
Biblical    narrative    of    the    Creation,   the    precious 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS.        197 

Wnd^^WWU  th?.'^'"  divinely  vouchsafed  to  man- 

fact  whi^h     i^^^^^^^  '"PP""  *^*^y  "««tive 

laci  wnicn  It  IS  necessary  for  us  to  know  wi»  ar«>  .»iii 

of v.tP"w  *  "'^•^.  *°T^«r^  •*  ^^^^^^^^ 
assume'thS^tJ"^' '"  *^'  ^"*  P'*"'  conscientiously 
aS  div,  ^J  ♦^"":*'T  *P1?"8  '"^^  existence  in  six 
S^S,  fJ^?  of  twenty-four  hours  each,  as  beine  en- 
tirely  w,thin  the  scope  of  the  Creative  Power  h  is  a 
perfectly  lopal  conclusion,  that  if  God  cou  d  c  cat* 
the  world  at  all,  he  could  do  so.  at  his  pleasure  lust 
Z7J  '"/J'^  days  as  in  many  millions  of  "^^s:  ^  In 

«sume°thi?^'''  •^•'  ?T  'f^'  ^"'^^  to  do  »o" 
?escrib.Hl„'r*°"?'".^^  '^^^P*'^  condition  of  things 
described  in  Genesis  1.  2,  when  the  earth  was  wiUi- 
out  form  and  void  and  darkness  was  upon  the  face  of 

fecelf?h'  '"^  '^'  ^P'"*  °^  God  moTd  upon  the 
face  of  the  waters,  was  not  restricted  to  a  single  day 

of  t?m?T  •°"'  ^l^-  '■fP'-^^^ted  a  vast  unknown  period 
fnoi  «i  ^"""S  ^5'cJ»  'nany  natural  physical  changes 
took  place    of  the  special  character  of  which  we 

th.T.r^;';^  ^^^^^^r •  ^  Penod  of  Ught,  iut  not 
the  dfv  Ian?"  '""•  f^'^^'^'  «ns"ed,  during  which 
the  dry  land  arose  from  the  waste  of  waters    the 

oceans  grouped  themselves  in  their  appointed  pl'aces 
In/tt  ^".^r^t'O"  P'-^vailed  which  developed  here 
SnJf'^K"*^  ^o^^^'^ds,  and  the  earth  was  Otherwise 
aJd  esnec^'lir?  '^^  dwelling-place  of  animal  life! 
and  especially  of  man.  In  the  third  place,  we  mav 
assume  that  the  six  days  of  Creation  fifuraSvely  T.Z 
resented  vast  periods  of  time,  in  which  all  the  creL 
wm  ?ndT/t'  r'-rp^-'^Uy  performed  at  the  Divine 
^tlt  ^^,^\f"  ^^  completion  of  these  processes 
^hL^  ?*"*"^/P.P*=^'"*^-  Then  came  a  seventh,  or 
sabbatical  penod,  in  which  God  rested  from  his  la' 
hours.  In  the  fourth  place,  we  may  assume,  if  we 
feel  so  disposed  that  while  the  six  day.  of  Oeation 
were  separated  by  vast  intervals  of  time,  the  seS 
acts  of  creation  were  performed  by  G^d  at  the  end 
of  each  interval,  in  a  single  day;  and  that  the  seventh 


r    ; 


n:\ 


hi 


198    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

Interval  constituted  the  first  sabbath.    But  while  the 
sacred  narrative  apparently  permits  this  wide  latitude 
of  opinion,  as  regards  the  performance  of  the  acts  of 
Creation,  we  are  bound  to  accept  the  stupendous 
results  of  these  acts  just  as  they  are  described,  and  in 
their  fully  literal  ssnse.    Those  results  are  all  well 
within  the  scope  of  our  finite  comprehension,  and  we 
witness  them  in  some  form  every  day  of  our  lives. 
Day  and  night,  the  evening  and  the  morning,  summer 
and  winter,  heat  and  cold,  are  ever  present  with  us 
m  their  order  of  succession.    We  stand  upon  the 
firm  earth,  and  hear  the  waves  of  the  ocean  break 
upon  its  shore  just  as  a^  the  first.    We  see  the  grass 
grow,  and  the  fruit  tree  yield  its  fruit,  as  at  the  be- 
ginning.   We  watch  the  sun  still  ruling  the  day,  and 
the  moon  the  night,  in  accordance  with  their  Divine 
appointment.    We  have  the  fish  of  the  sea,  the  fowl 
of  the  air,  and  the  beasts  of  the  field,  for  such  uses 
as  we  desire  to  put  them  to.    And  we  know  that  God 
made  man  in  his  own  image,  and  constituted  him  the 
lord  of  his  Creation.    If  the  greatest  architect  that 
ever  lived  were  to  tell  us  that  St  Paul's  Cathedral  in 
London,  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  and  the  Parlia- 
mentary buildings  at  Ottawa,  were  the  results  of  ac- 
cidental mechanical  evolution,  we  would  laugh  him  to 
scorn ;  and  regard  him  as  an  apt  subject  for  a  lunatic 
asylum.    What  better  treatment  does  the  scientist, 
however  eminent,  deserve,  who  presumes  to  tell  us 
that  the  vast  universe,  formed  on  a  Divine  plan 
of  wonderful  completeness  and  infinite  wisdom,  in 
every  detail,  where  everything  moves  in  the  most 
perfect  harmony  and  order,  where  the  planets  travel 
in  their  appointed   orbits  on    their  long  journeys 
around  the  sun,  which  in  the  case  of  Neptune  takes 
160  years  for  its  performance,  without  losing  or  gain- 
ing a  minute  of  time,  where  no  repairs  are  ever 
needed,  and  no  accidents  ever  occur,  are  the  products 
of  merely  accidental  mechanical  evolution.    Such  a 
conclusion  is  opposed  to  every  law  of  reason,  every 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS        199 

form  of  fact,  and  every  rule  of  common-sense.  Every 
Christian  man  who  loves  his  Bible,  and  believes,  as 
e  ?°j  r  ***"*^*'  *^**  »*  conuins  the  whole  counsel 
of  God  for  the  religious  and  moral  government  of 
the  world,  may  turn  to  Genesis  i.  andii.  and  confi- 
denUy  read  there  the  sublime  story  of  the  stupendous 
miracle  of  the  Creation,  in  the  full  assurance  that  it 
came  from  Gcd  himself,  and  U  therefore  implicitly 
true  in  every  detail. 


?     M 


f^^ 


fi 


CHAPTER  X. 

FROM  THE  CREATION  TO  THE  DELUGE. 

In  Genesis  i.  26, 27, we  read:  "And  God  said,  Let  us 
make  man  in  our  image  after  our  likeness;  and  let 
them  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over 
the   fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  the  cattle,  and  over 
all  the  earth,  and  over  every   creeping  thing  that 
creepeth  upon  the  earth.    So  God  created  man  in 
his  own  image,  in  the  image  of  God  created  he  him ; 
male  and  female  created  he  them."    Thus  we  see  that 
at  the  close  of  the  sixth  day  of  Creation,  man,  the 
noblest  of  all  the  earth's  inhabitants,  appears  as  the 
master  of  all  living  things,  a  perpetual  inheritance 
which  has  never  been  forfeited,  in  weal  or  woe,  and 
which  he  still  holds  in  possession.   In  the  first  chapter 
of  Genesis  we  are  informed  of  the  fact  of  the  advent 
of  Adam  and  Eve  upon  the  earth ;  in  the  succeeding 
chapter  we  learn  the  circumstances  under  which  that 
advent  took  place.    The  second  narrative  is,  accord- 
ingly, the  complement  of  the  first.    That  Adam's 
original  mental  condition  conformed  to  his  perfect 
physical  structure,  and  was  of  the  highest  intellectual 
order,  is  proved  by  the  circumstance  that  he  gave 
suitable  names  to  all  the  lower  orders  of  animals, 
and  designated  the  beautiful  creature  that  God  had 
formed  to  be   forever  his  dearest  friend  and   com- 
panion, as  woman,  because  she  was  taken  out  of  man. 
There  was  nothing  of  the  agnostic  scientist's  savage 
about  him.    His  intellectual  organisation  stood  on  the 
highest  plane  that  the  human  mind  was  capable  of,  and 


Ji 


THE  CREATION  TO  THE  DELUGE.  201 

eminently  fitted  him  for  the  deepest  religious  impres- 
sions.   It  was  onl^  natural  that  he  should  come  from 
the  hands  of  his  Creator  a  perfect  man,  mentally  and 
physically,  as  well  as  religiously.     How  long  our  first 
parento  remained  in  the  Garden  of  Eden  after  their 
creation,  in  an  existence  of  perfect  innocence  and  the 
purest  happiness,  we  are  not  told ;  but  there  can  be 
little  doubt  that  the  period  was  a  reasonably  long  one. 
At  length  the  dire  catastrophe  of  the  Fall  took  place. 
Our  first  parents  yield  to  the  temptations  of  the 
great  adversary  of  mankind,  and  sin  enters  into  the 
world  and  death  by  sin.  Their  eyes  are  now  opened,  and 
they  realise  at  once  that  their  new  condition  is  a  fallen 
one  — the  result  of  their  disobedience  to  the  Divine 
command.  As  a  natural  consequence  of  the  new  sense 
of  sin  and  shame  which  arise  in  their  minds,  they  seek 
to  conceal  themselves  from  God.    The  rebuke  which 
followed  made  Adam  deeply  sensible  of  his  fault,  and 
led  to  sincere  repentance.    And  now  comes  the  com- 
forting assurance  in  the  first  Divine  promise  of  a  future 
Messiah,  who  was  to  bruise  the  head  or  most  vital 
part  of  the  enemy  of  mankind,  while  Satan  would 
bruise  the  Messiah's  heel  in  his  suflerings  upon  the 
cross,  where  he  would  make  a  personal  atonement  for 
the  sins  of  the  world.    That  promise  constitutes  the 
foundation  of  all  the  law  and  the  prophets  —  of  all  the 
Scriptures,  Old  and  New.     Destroy  that  foundation 
and  all  the  structure  of  Divine  revelation  crumbles  into 
fragments.    "  For  since  by  man  came  death,"  says  the 
Apostle  Paul,  "  by  man  came  also  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead.    For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ 
shall  all  be  made  alive"  (i  Cor.  xv.  21,  22). 

We  all  learn  the  lesson,  sooner  or  later,  in  our 
journey  through  life,  that  sin  carries  its  own  punish- 
ment within  itself.  That  lesson  was  soon  to  be  forcibly 
impressed  on  Adam  and  Eve.  The  man  had  already 
been  told  by  God,  that  in  consequence  of  his  trans- 
gression, the  very  ground  had  been  cursed,  and  that 
when  he  cultivated  it  thorns  and  thistles  should  come 


t?^3 


1 

<  ^ 

i 

u 

■u 

1 

1 1 

j 

!' 

J      t     ■ 

202    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

forth  to  him.  "And  thou  shalt  eat  the  herb  of  the 
field,"  said  God,  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou 
eat  bread  till  thou  return  unto  the  ground,  for  out  of  it 
wast  thou  taken ;  for  dust  thou  art  and  unto  dust  shalt 
thou  return"  (Genesis  iii.  i8).  And  that  curse  has 
never  been  lifted  from  the  earth  from  that  day  to  this, 
and  it  still  remains  with  us  as  a  perpetual  witness  of 
the  Creation  of  man,  and  of  his  deplorable  Fall. 
Where  nature,  in  its  primeval  moods,  exists  without  a 
weed  of  any  kind,  and  the  greenest  grass  prevails,  and 
the  most  charming  wild  flowers  bud  and  bloom,  no 
sooner  does  cultivation  commence,  no  matter  in  what 
part  of  the  world  it  may  be,  and  however  remote  from 
civilisation,  than  in  some  mysterious  and  ine.xplicable 
way  the  thorn  and  the  thistle  presently  make  their 
appearance. 

The  final  catastrophe  connected  with  the  Fall  very 
soon  takes  place,  and  Adam  is  driven  forth  from  the 
Garden  of  Eden  "  to  till  the  ground  from  whence  he 
was  taken."     We  may  picture  to  our  minus  the  in- 
tensely human  spectacle  which  presented  itself  as  our 
first  parents,  hand  in  hand,  no  doubt,  emerged  from 
the  gateway  of  that  paradise  where  they  had  hitherto 
dwelt,  free  from  sin  and  care,  with  such  perfection  of 
happiness.     Ere  its  portals  closed  upon  them  forever, 
the  last  long  lingering  look  of  regret  would  be  taken, 
and  their  painful  journey  outwards   into  the  world 
beyond  is  then  silently  resumed.     Their  steps  were 
slow  and  hesitating;   their  eyes  were  cast  upon  the 
ground,  in  the  deep  humility  of  their  afflicted  souls ; 
and  the  tender  woman,  now  poignantly  conscious  of 
the  ruin  she  had  caused,  clung  more  closely  to  her 
stalwart  husband  for  support  and  comfort  in  that  hour 
of  dire  distress.     Their  eyes  had  been  opened,  they 
could  now  realise  the  existing  situation,  and  the  full 
consciousness  of  all  they  had  irretrievably  lost  forever 
presented  itself  to  their  minds  in  the  most  forcible 
manner.     How  they  passed  the  remainder  of  that 
melancholy  day  we  may  very  readily  conceive.  They 


THE  CREATION  TO  THE  DELUGE.    203 


would  naturally  sit  down  on  the  greensward  in  the 
shelter  of  some  umbrageous  tree,  and  there  their 
first  night,  in  the  outward  world  of  sin  and  sorrow, 
would  be  passed.  The  darkness  gradually  drew  its 
mantle  about  them,  all  primeval  nature  sank  to  rest, 
and  that  greatest  of  all  human  comforters,  blessed 
sleep,  came  to  the  afflicted  couple.  No  doubt  they 
were  still  further  comforted  by  the  consciousness,  that 
although  they  had  been  sorely  punished  for  their  sin 
of  disobedience  God  would  not  wholly  desert  them, 
and  would  still  continue  to  be  their  guide  and 
protector. 

Refreshed  by  rest  and  sleep,  Adam's  spiritt  grad- 
ually revived  as  the  morning  sun  ascended  above 
the  horizon.  Thrown  now  entirely  on  his  own  re- 
sources, or  apparently  so,  as  far  as  he  could  discern, 
still,  like  the  true  man  that  he  was,  his  courage  rose 
to  the  occasion ;  and  he  took  a  more  hopeful  view  of 
his  environments.  He  had  now  to  provide  not  only 
for  his  own  wants,  but  also  for  those  of  his  wife,  so 
helpless  in  her  bitter  sorrow.  One  of  his  first  cares 
was  to  provide  shelter  for  her  from  the  hot  beams  of 
the  eastern  sun,  and  the  damp  dews  at  night.  So  the 
first  dwelling  came  to  be  constructed,  and  the  home- 
life  of  the  solitary  couple  began  to  unfold  itself.  That 
humble  dwelling  could  only  have  been  built  with  the 
boughs  of  surrounding  trees ;  and  Adam,  using  his 
knowledge  of  gardening  already  acquired  in  Eden, 
would  naturally  train  some  flowering  shrubs  among 
these  boughs  (as  is  the  practice  to-day  in  warm  eastern 
climes)  in  order  to  make  the  improvised  home  more 
cheerful  and  pleasant  for  his  wife.  Presently  a  bright 
gleam  of  the  sunshine  of  happiness  lights  up  that 
humble  home.  In  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  xvi.  31, 
our  blessed  Saviour,  with  a  few  master-strokes  of  hu- 
man sympathy,  pictures  to  us  how  the  mother  forgets 
her  previous  anguish  in  the  joy  that  follows  the  birth 
of  her  little  one.  And  so  it  was  with  Eve  when  Cain, 
her  first  child,  was  born  into  the  world ;  and  she  said, 


i  I 


I, 


l;= 


if:!' 


204    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

from1L'S"/"'"°R^''V?\"^^^^^  gotten  aman 
f^^    I  ^i°'      By-and-by  her  second  son.  Abel 
fo  lowed     These  two  brothers  grew  up  to  man^  es- 
tate, probably  after  an  interval  of  ,00  yea^  or  Aere- 

fil°"ll'  ?u"^  n^""*"^  *«  occupation  of  a  farme?- 
the  other  that  of  a  shepherd,  rfow  long  they  wnl 
tmued  to  follow  their  separate  modes  of  living  we 
have  no   means  of  knowing,  but   the  period  w^s 

SSr  ^Tf^'  ?  ^  \"^*^^"  terLinatio^b;!  d"r" 
InnLn  >  "*^?£;°Ph^'  ^'hich  showed  how  deeply  sin! 
fntn  1J*'  ternble  consequences,  had  already  4nterS 
mto  the  world     Abel's  sacrifice  is  accepted  by  God" 
Cams  ,s  rejected,  and  in  a  moment  of  jealousy  and 
resentment  the  latter  ^lays  his  innocent  brother     Al- 
though  he  ,s  not  subjected  to  the  death-penalty  for 
tile  3''  God  punishes  him  by  making  him  a  fur- 
tive and  a  vagabond  m  the  earth.  "  And  Cain."  we  £e 
told  'went  out  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord  ^d 
dwelt  m  the  land  of  Nod  on*^the  east  of  Eden/' whwe 

other  poets  have,  m  the  exercise  of  their  poetic  license 
described  th.s  city  as  a  magnificent  sti-ucture.  the  result 
?„  .  ^J^i  °'^r  °^  architectural  skill.  But  it  mus 
instead  have  been  of  a  primitive  and  very  humble 
class  of  construction,  with  outward  walls  aTddwel^ 
S  .?' ir*^  T-'^t'^^  ^^°^««-  We  are  told  ven. 
IvJh  S  i^'^^  V?^""  *^  ^^'-  W«  '«a™  only  that  he 
lived  so  long,  had  sons  and  daughters;  then,  like  all 

s^r.S?''"^  '"*"^^"1  *°  '^"^  ^"«t  fr<"»  which  he 
sprang,  and  so  paid  the  death-penalty  of  his  sin  of 

oLSr '5  "^  ^"•^^"*'>'  «"bmittedTw°ih  reljbus 
loTu^  «  I,  '■"'.P^ti°"'  to  his  lot;  lived  out  his 
f?,u^  hfe  as  happily  as  he  could,  and  in  complying 
fully  with  all  Its  manifold  duties.  ^  ^ 

t.vl^r°'''*^  P.'^'i"''^  sketched  by  the  Biblical  narra- 
tive  ,s  a  very  different  one  from  that  which  some  of 
our  modern  sceptical  scientists  draw  for  us.  as  regards 
the  savage  and  ignorant  condition  of  primitive  man 
Abel  was  a  shepherd,  the  calling  of  so^m^y  LnTii 


THE  CREATION  TO  THE  DELUGE.    205 

our  own  day  and  was  no  doubt  well  acquainted  with 
the  best  methods  of  caring  for  his  flocks.    Cain  was 
a  farmer,  and  understood  the  cultivation  of  the  soil, 
the  planting  and  harvesting  of  grain  and  vegetables 
an  occupation  followed  by  so  many  millions  of  people 
at  the  present  day.     So  neither  of  them  could  be 
properly  termed  a  savage  or  even  ignorant  man.     In 
addition  to  his  agricultural  information,  Cain  had  also 
a  knowledge  of  architecture,  sufficient  to  enable  him 
to  construct  what  was  no  doubt  a  walled  city  to  pro- 
tect himself  avi  his  band  of  followers,  (for  men  had 
ilf^  /Fu  "  r*"  '""•*'P'y  °"  *^^  «*rth,)  from  the  wild 
^!n     •?!•*''*'  ^°f.^?*'and  from  future  human  foes  as 
well     This  condition  of  things  shows  that  a  consid- 

Vnn!Vr°iTl\^^''\^^^P^^^  "'"<=«  t^e  expulsion 
ofS.  r  ''fi^^^"  P'ace.  and  that  communities 
of  the  earlier  inhabitants  of  the  earth  had  commenced 

Z^J^aI  *^^'"t.'^"'  ^f ^  *"d  -here,  on  its  surface, 
iiy-and-by,  as  time  rolls  on,  we  have  a  brief  bio- 
graphical sketch  of  Lamech,  the  first  polygamist,  who 
passionately  confesses  to  his  two  wives  that  he  had 
been  guilty  of  what  was  probably  manslaughter.  As 
aLu  ""/l*J^«  .'■^P'dly  progresses,  we  learn  that 
Adah,  one  of  his  wives,  bare  Jabal,  the  father,  or  an- 
cestor of  such  as  dwell  in  tents  and  have  cattle: 
while  his  brother,  Jubal,  was  distinguished  as  a  musil 
cian,  and  was  the  father  of  all  those  who  handle  the 

ht2  t"k  ,*  r  •°'"^^"- .  ^'"*^'  Lamech's  other  wife, 
bare  Tubal-Cain,  an  instructor  of  eveiy  artificer  in 
brass  and  iron.  From  these  facts  we  learn  that,  at 
^InTii^  P^T"^  of  the  world's  history,  not  only  were 
men  fully  endowed  with  the  knowledge  necessary  to 
enable  them  to  construct  buildings  to  live  in,  and 
support  themselves  and  their  families  by  either  a  pas- 
toral or  an  agricultural  life,  but  were  also  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  more  useful  arts  and  sciences, 
understood  the  manufacture  of  articles  from  brass,  a 
composite  metal  made  from  copper  and  zinc,  and  the 
mining,  smelting,  and  forging  of  iron.     How  they  so 


!!< 


I! 


206    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

soon  acquired  knowledge  of  this  advanced  character 
we  are  not  told.    Archbishop  Whately,  so  eminent  in 
his  day,  as  a  prelate  and  an  author,  in  his  work  on 
the  early  civilisation  of  mankind,  is  of  opinion  that 
It  came   from  angelic   instruction.      If  his  conclu- 
sion commends  itself  to  our  consideration,  we  may 
pursue  his  idea  somewhat  further,  and  suppose  that 
angels  of  a  lower  order,  the  "sons  of  God,"  were 
permitted  to  dwell  among  men,  became  attached  to 
the  lovely  women  with  whom  they  came  in  contact, 
and  that  a  new  and  superior  race  was  the  result  — 
the  men  of  renown  alluded  to  in  Genesis  vi.  2,  4. 
But  the  most  probable  meaning  of  this  passage  is 
that  a  class  of  men,  who  were  greatly  devoted  to  the 
service  of  God,  and  therefore  his  sons,  married  the 
daughters  of  other  men  of  a  lower  type  of  character. 
The  fifth  chapter  of  Genesis  opens  with  the  Book  of 
the  generations  of  Adam,  which  gives  us  a  brief 
sketch  of  the  ten  patriarchs  who  lived  between  the 
Creation  and  the  Deluge.    The  use  of  the  word  book 
would  lead  us  to  suppose  that  the  art  of  writing  was 
already  known,  a  fact  that  would  be  quite  in  accord 
with  the  high  state  of  civilisation  which  prevailed  at  a 
very  early  period  of  the  world's  history.    We  have 
nothing,  however,  to  prove  that  written  records  came 
from  beyond  the  Deluge,  or  were  known  to  the 
Accadian  people,  who  among  the  remote  nations  of 
the  ancient  world  had  the  earliest    knowledge  of 
syllabic  writing.     If  written  records  had  ever  existed, 
they  were  probably  lost  or  destroyed  during  the  first 
centuries  after  the  dispersion,  at  Babel,  of  the  various 
language  groups.    As  the  intensely  interesting  human 
narrative,  so  briefly  but  graphically  told  us  in  Genesis 
fourth  and  fifth  chapters,  moves  onwards,  we  learn 
that  there  was  a  righteous  man  named  Enoch,  who 
walked  with  God,  that  a,  that  he  was  a  devoted  servant 
of  the  Most  High,  who  at  the  age  of  365  years  was 
taken  up  to  heaven,  just  as  Elijah  was  many  centuries 
afterwards.    This  shows  in  what  great  estimation  God 


THE  CREATION  TO  THE  DELUGE.    207 

holds  his  righteous  servants,  and  established  an  ob- 
ject lesson,  of  the  deej  st  import  to  mankind,  for  all 
future  ages.  In  the  case  of  Methuselah,  who  lived 
out  the  longest  human  life  for  969  years,  we  learn 
how  God  graciously  prolongs  the  lives  of  good  men. 
His  son  Lamech,  another  good  man,  grew  up  to  man's 
estate,  married  when  he  was  about  180  years  of  age, 
and  begat  a  son.  "  And  he  called  his  name  Noah  " 
(i.  e.  rest  or  comfort),  says  the  sacred  narrative. 
"  This  same  shall  comfort  us,"  said  Lamech,  "  con- 
cerning our  work,  and  toil  of  our  hands,  because  of 
the  ground  which  the  Lord  hath  cursed."  Owing  to 
the  wickedness  of  mankind  the  soil  was  becoming 
more  and  more  unproductive,  greater  labour  was 
accordingly  necessary  to  cultivate  it,  and  the  help  of 
his  son  would  therefore  be  a  comfort  to  Lamech. 
But  time  continues  to  roll  inexorably  onwards; 
and  we  are  told  that  Noah  was  500  years  old,  and 
begat  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japiiet.  Another  century 
passes  away,  and  the  brink  of  the  Deluge  is  at  last 
reached.  The  first  five  verses  of  the  sixth  chapter 
of  Genesis  briefly  tell  us  the  condition  of  mankind 
before  and  at  that  memorable  epoch.  Their  story  at 
first  looks  briefly  backwards  over  the  distant  past. 
"'  And  it  came  to  pass,"  it  says,  "  when  men  began  to 
multiply  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  daughters  were 
born  unto  them,  that  the  sons  of  God  saw  the  daugh- 
ters of  men  that  they  were  fair,  and  they  took  them 
wives  of  all  which  they  chose.  There  were  giants  in 
the  earth  in  those  days ;  and  also  after  that,  when  the 
sons  of  God  came  in  unto  the  daughters  of  men,  and 
they  bare  children  to  them,  the  same  became  mighty 
men."  The  fifth  verse  graphically  portrays  the  moral 
condition  of  mankind  immediately  before  the  Deluge. 
"  And  God  saw,"  says  the  text,  "  that  the  wickedness 
of  man  was  great  in  the  earth,  and  that  every  imagi- 
nation of  the  thoughts  of  his  heart  was  only  evil  con- 
tinually. And  it  repented  the  Lord  that  he  had 
made  man  on  the  earth."    Verses  eleven  and  twelve 


llli 


'.   f\ 


r  i 


a  ;[ 


— -^* 


208    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

tell  us  likewise,  "The  earth  also  was  corrupt  before 
God.  and  the  earth  was  filled  with  violence.    And  God 

[or  ,lf  fl"TA^  *"*''•  *"**  ^^^°^^'  •*  «'as  corrupt; 
for  all  flesh  had  corrupted  his  way  upon  the  earth." 
What  an  utterly  deplorable  picture  of  the  degraded 
condition  of  the  human  race  is  here  sketched  for  us. 
It  shows  us  that  the  cup  of  the  iniquity  of  mankind 
had  become  full  to  the  brim.  Only  one  man  among 
the  many  millions  of  the  human  race  which  peopled 
the  antediluvian  world,  the  righteous  Noah,  found 
grace,  or  favour,  m  the  eyes  of  the  Lord.     It  is  little 

Zlr  .V  '  9°i  ""^"^  determined  upon  the  universal 
destruction  of  that  race,  as  the  only  cure  for  the  un- 
bearable state  of  things  which  had  arisen  in  the  world. 

nrJnrfnIf  ?  ^5^'  T  ^^^^  ["'*  "^''''^^^d  Constitute  the 
principal  landmarks  of  the  history  which   Genesis 

froT.h'  ?l  '^-  «.^g'""'"g  of  Things,  and  of  mankind 
from  that  beginning  down  to  the  Deluge  or  the  Flood. 
Ihat  history  forms  the  most  precious  record  that  our 
race  could  possibly  possess ;  and  also  constitutes  the 

f^Z  .■  '^u■^l^°^''b  °'  P'"^'"'^«'  to  the  gracious 
revelation  which  God  afterwards  vouchsafed  to  his 

th!  !!•%"  °'  ^^""^  guidance.  It  likewise  constitutes 
the  chief  corner-stone  of  that  Divine  temple  of  knowl- 
edge, within  the  portals  of  which  we  may  learn  not 
only  what  is  necessary  for  our  betterment  in  this  life, 
bu  also  for  our  future  salvation  as  regards  our  hopes 
ot  the  liJe  to  come. 

f^y^^  l^-  "r°*  *"*■".  ^^'"'^  ^''°™  *^e  Biblical  narrative 
lor  a  brief  period,  and  throw  the  searchlight  of 
human  experience  on  what  was  most  probably  the 
moral  and  physical  condition  of  the  world  before  the 
iJeluge.  As  regards  his  moral  condition  we  must 
always  bear  in  mind  that  man's  nature  has  never 
changed  since  the  Fall,  and  that  he  was  precisely 
the  same  sinful  being  before  the  Deluge  af  he  has 
been  since  that  catastrophe  took  place.     On  these 

SusYonr  ""''  "•■^  ''''''  ''"^  ^^""^  -P-^"' 


THE  CREATION  TO  THE  DELUGE.    209 

In  tracing  the  history  of  man  from  the  beginning 
onwards,  we  have  first  to  consider  his  original  con- 
dition, and  the  environments  which  belonged  to  it. 
There  were  only  two  human  beings  to  people  the 
earth,  and  even  under  the  most  favourable  circum- 
stances the  increase  in  population  must  at  the  com- 
mencement have  been  very  slow.  There  was  only 
one  form  of  speech,  a  circumstance  that  would  keep 
men  closely  in  touch  with  one  another,  and  build  up 
a  great  central  point  of  civilisation.  That  central 
point  must  have  always  remained  in  that  warm  and 
prolific  region  where  our  first  parents  were  ushered  into 
existence,  and  either  in  or  around  which  the  increasing 
population  naturally  continued  to  group  itself.  From 
the  site  of  the  Garden  of  Eden,  which  Sir  Henry 
Rawlinson,  the  great  Assyriologist,  places,  no  doubt 
very  correctly,  between  the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris, 
the  most  fertile  and  delightful  countries  of  the  ancient 
world  extended  in  every  direction,  where,  in  addition 
to  a  warm  and  salubrious  climate,  the  prolific  soil 
yielded  a  double  annual  crop  with  the  minimum  of 
labour,  and  life  accordingly  was  pleasant  and  easy. 
Babylonia  and  Mesopotamia  watered  with  large  rivers, 
and  a  network  of  irrigating  canals,  were,  in  early  times, 
the  gardens  of  the  earth ;  while  beyond  them  lay  the 
rich  lands  of  Syria  and  Palestine,  and  the  warm  and 
fertile  regions  along  both  shores  of  the  Mediterranean, 
which  Phoenicia  afterwards  colonised  with  so  much 
advantage  to  herself.  Population,  in  the  early  days 
of  mankind,  would  naturally  follow  much  the  same 
lines  of  settlement  that  it  did  after  the  Deluge,  and 
plant  itself  only  in  the  most  desirable  locations,  where 
a  living  could  most  easily  be  made ;  and,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  the  colder  and  more  inhospitable  regions  of 
the  earth  would  be  sedulously  avoided.  There  is  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  these  colder  regions  were 
peopled  to  any  extent  before  the  Deluge,  or  that  any 
general  emigration  movement  took  place  thereto. 
When  the  Deluge  overtook   the   world   Noah  was 

u 


1,1 


m'hi  I 


'?'(•( 


I 


2IO    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE 
wh,ch  he  required  for  the  construction  Sf  the  «k  ^^ 

fesrthr-isro?  roi?rre»>!^ 

would'"„at'ril1y'e'S^Si  Jhlttte'Lorltd""'  ""?=£* 
ground  „d  mile  i,  more  u^p'I'.^L^ve'"'' '"""'  *' 

5Ar^S^7-,^re^TeS-e-or^ 
and  there  commence  Sfe  ane^'  IH^nr'""""'' 

and  dimLr  wfS.^tSfpr-ler.'^/^t'X^Str 


list  II 


THE  CREATION  TO  THE  DELUGE.    211 

was  entirely  ignored,  as  the  products  of  the  chase 
supphed  them  w.th  food  and  clothing,  with  much  less 
abour  and  fatigue;    and  thus  they  graduaUy  sank 

aZIL^a  -TIu"  ^^^  *'"'"*"  ^'^^'  ""*»  they  finally 
?;«&  T?u^^  T'/  '^^/'Se  hunter.  This  evident 
cond  tion  of  things  before  the  Deluge  as  well  as  after 

nlSn''"?'!-*  *^°'"?'=  ^^'=*'  *»^**  *''°'"  the  most  remote 
periods  of  time,  the  stone,  the  bronze,  and  the  iron, 
ages  have  all  existed  concurrently,  and  just  as  they 
tSTL^Jw   Vif  *  ^°  centuries  in  different  parts  of 
rJuA         ."^  *'  "°  P°''*'^«  proof,  that  what  is 
called   a  stone-age  ever  had  any  existence  at  the 
central  seats  of  civilisation.    We  now  know,  that  in 
all  the  historic  ages  civilised  and  savage  life  had 
their  homes  in  separate  countries,  at  one  and  the 
same  time;    and  that  while  one  part  of  the  world 
was  enjoying  the  highest  degree  of  development  in 
all  the  known  arts  and  sciences,  in  other  parts  of  the 
world  men  were  still  to  be  found  environed  by  the 
rudest  conditions  of  the  lowest  type  of  savage  exist- 
ence.    AH  argument,  therefore,  as  regards  a  stone 
age  universally  preceding  a  higher  state  of  civilisa- 
uon,  and  that  every  nation  has  reached  its  present 
advanced  conditions  by  a  law  of  general  evolution, 
IS  wholly  untenable.     Lyell's  evidence  on  this  poini 
IS  very  important.    He  states  most  truly  that  as 
the  ages  of  stone,  bronze,  and  iron,  merely  indicate 
S!S"'!  ^*«S««  of^.^ivilisation.  they  may  all   have 
existed  at  once  in  different  parts  of  the  globe,  and 
even  in  contiguous  districts  among  nations   having 
little  intercourse  with  one  another.    To  make  out. 
therefore,   a    distinct  chronological    series    is    only 
possible  where  our  observations  are  confined  to  a 
limited  district   such  as   Switzerland.^     In  the  early 
days  of  French  settlement  in  Canada,  it  was  found 
very  difficult  to  keep  young  men  from  quitting  the 
centres    of  colonial    civilisation,    and    silently    dis- 
appearing m  the  illimitable  forests,  there  to  follow 

'  S.  Elemenu  of  Geology,  p.  148. 


^i 


H 


IK-1L 


ai2    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

the  free  wild  life  of  the  Indian  hunter.  This  was 
especially  the  case  during  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV 
despite  the  severe  law.  which  he  made  «  times  to 
?o"r"'tS.  ir^  deserters  from  his  favourite  colony,  and 
I?K-  *J«  P~»P«"ty  and  increase  of  the  population  of 
which  he  was  constantly  doing  so  much.  I^  less  than 
800  of  the  young  men  he  had  sent  out  to  this  county 
at  much  expense,  were  at  one  time  lost  to  the  colony 

So,?"„'f  !k  *  r?'-  /'"t^'^'ing  the  unrestrained  free^ 
domof  the  life  of  the  red  man.  they  deliberately 
cast  'heir  lot  with  him  for  all  time,  married  Mtive 
wives,  and  eventually  became  more  Indian  th^  the 
Indians  themselves.^  In  this  condition  of  things  we 
to7hr/°"^i  the  true  key  to  the  causes  which  led 
to  the  cave  deposits  of  prehistoric  human  remains 

who  S/"k°P*^-  They  ^"«  th«  skeletons  of  men 
who  had  abandoned  the  ancient  seats  of  Asiatic 
civilisation  either  before   or  after   the  Deluge  In 

dScend°ante'***'"  ^^''^"'^  ^'^^'"^'  °'  *°**  °^  **>«'' 

The  Deluge  drew  a  thick  veil  across  the  eariier 

history  of  mankind.    All  we  know  of  that  WstoS 

thr^";;.*^"  S'^'^'^li  ^^  *^  ^^°<^  »  comprised  X 
three  not  very  long  chapters  of  Genesis.    The  period 

H.h^l  T"""?  ^y  ?!f*  *=^»P*«"  «  according  to 
Hebrew  chronology  1656  years,  while  the  Septuagint 
makes  it  2262  years.  As  we  have  already  stotedjn 
our  chapter  on  Chronology,  the  weight  of  evideice 

oE't^  ^l  '"  /''°"'"  ""^  *^"  ^^"^^  computation. 
Z,  uVu  '"'^'^**  "*"  '""St  *»«ve  multiplied  greatiy 
m  all  the  warmer  regions  of  the  earth.  He  had 
crossed  from  Pereia  into  India,  and  from  thence 
passed  from  island  to  island,  and  eventually  won  the 
bouth  American  coast,  although  most  probably  in 
very  limited  numbers.  What  the  populSion  of  the 
world  may  have  been  when  the  cata?ti-ophe  of  the 
Flood  approached  can  only  be  learned  from  approxi- 
mate  supposition,  and  by  extending  our  statistical 

>  McMuIlen's  History  of  Canada, Vol.  I.  p.  213. 


THE  CREATION  TO  THE  DELUGE.    213 

experience  of  the  present  day  to  that  remote  period. 
According  to  the  latest  and  best  authorities  the  popu- 
lation of  the  world  stands  to-day  at  iA79,739AOO. 
Let  us  suppose  that  5000  years  have  elapsed  between 
the  Deluge  and  the  year  1900,  and  that  the  re-peopling 
of  the  earth  commenced  with  the  eight  p.  sons  of 
Noah's  family,  we  shall  then  be  in  a  position  to  figure 
out  the  rate  of  the  increase  of  its  population.    During 
that  period  the  population  of  the  world  doubled  it- 
self, within  a  small  fraction,  every  i76><j  years.    In  a 
few  special  cases,  in  modern  times,  the  rate  of  in- 
crease would   be  many  times  greater.      Owing  to 
the  large  immigration  into  the  United  States,  their 
population,  during  the  past  century,  doubled   itself 
every  26;^  years ;   while  the  population  of  Canada, 
during  the  same  period,  doubled  itself  in  a  little  over 
every  20  years ;  showing  that  despite  all  our  losses 
by  emigration  across  our  southern  border,  we  still 
increased   faster  than  our  American  cousins.     The 
population  of  the  Roman  Empire  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Christian  era,  when  Tiberius  took  the 
census,  was,  according  to  Gibbon,  120,000,000,  and 
if  we  add  to  these  figures  the  probable  populations 
of  India,  China,  and  other  parts  of  the  world  not  then 
under  Roman  dominion,  ^e  total  would  be  some- 
where about  350,000,000  souls.      In   England  and 
Germany  the  population,  during  the  past  century, 
doubled  itself  in  about  every  fifty  years.     In  France, 
during  the  same  period,  the  population  shows  a  de- 
crease of  some  two  millions.    The  disturbing  factor 
in   estimating  the   population    of  the   antediluvian 
world,  is  the  great  age  that  men  then  lived  to,  while 
at  the  same  time  they  did  not  attain  to  manhood 
until  they  were  a  century  old.    In  the  first  centuries 
there  would  be  less  sickness  and  fewer  casualties  than 
afterwards  prevailed.    For  the  first  five  centuries,  ac- 
cordingly, the  population,  commencing  with  Adam 
and  Eve,  would  double  itself  at  least  every  33^  years, 
or  three  times  in  a  century,  showing  a  total  at  the 


iM 


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ai4    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

end  of  that  term  of  65.536  touts.  During  the  second 
five  centuries  it  may  safely  be  assumed  thiTtth? 
population  doubled  itself  eve^y  ,00  yeaT,  and  woiw 
jccordmgly  stand  at  the  end  Jthe  Zst  millenm^m  at 
J.097.152.  There  would  still  be,  according  to  the 
Sf  ?  i"*^'X'  ".'•''"'•Ide''  of  1263  years  to  be  considered! 
to  hll  up  the  mterval  to  the  Deluge,  during  which  at  a 

ll^nT^'''''  """^T''  '^  population  doubled  ^elf 
every  200  years.    There  would  thus  be  a  total  dodu" 
lation  at  the  time  of  the  Deluge  of  156.587  V40   ffir 
the  first  millennium  would  certainly  come  Ae  perbd 
when  the  earth  was  filled  with  violence,  and^vhen 

?o1nf  o?iicreLT'^  ^^'^'  1°^"  *°  *he  minimum 
E^«  °.'^'n"ea»«  by  firreat  wars,  by  famines  and  pcsti- 

Sd'et**'  by  5od  a.  a  punishment  for  Ln's 

oflll*"'* JIS!"''?'^ *  ^"^  «*«a^  of  the  moral  condition 
SLhr„f^i"T".*r'^'  ^«  know  almost  absSlu  dC 
nothing  of  Its  physical  condition.    After  the  Creation 
had  been  accomplished  at  the  beginning  Genesh  tdls 
us  nothmg  about  the  physical  history  of  the  earth  or 
of  any  changes  whicS  may  have  Seen  pfaceln'its 
crust     Geological  research  has  lifted  the  curta  n 
which  shuts  out    the    physical    antediluvfan  ^rfd' 
from  our  view,  to  an  exceedingly  limited  extent  and 
on^y  in  isolated  spots,  here  and  tLe;  but  utter  *^ark^ 

pret  the  Mosaic  narrative  of  the  Creation  in  ite  El 
sense,  and  so  come  to  the  conclusion  that  G^  cS 
the  world  in  six  consecutive  days  of  twentv!four 
hours  each,  and   rested    from  hi^  labouT  5^  the 

thTall  thTchan^r .^'r  'r^  *°  theTondusSn' 
tnat  ail  the  changes  which  afterwards  took  olace  in 

Sh?"?  1**^  **1^'  *"*^  '^^  formation^f  cSf  beis 
Md  so  forth,  were  the  product  of  the  period  lyL  be! 
Jveen  the  Creation  and  the  Deluge.  That  iif  fair 
logical  assumption !  LyeU  tells  us.  but  wi  his  own 
authority  only,  and  wholly  lacking  proof  to  suddoi? 
his  statement,  which  is  therefore  merely  specuK? 


THE  CREATION  TO  THE  DELUGE.    21$ 

that  the  changes  in  the  earth's  surface  have  occupied 
vast  periods  of  time,  were  very  gradual  in  their 
accomphshment,  and  similar  to  the  changes  that  are 
now  in  operation.  In  direct  opposition,  liowever.  to 
this  contention  he  admits  that  since  the  dawn  of  what 
ne  terms  the  Neohthic,  and  what  we  would  call  tl  - 
post-diluvian,  period,  the  physical  changes  in  th" 
crust  of  the  earth  have  been  comparatively  few,  mrl 

fu*  ?**1  J^*'"^/  ""****  ^y  earthquakes,  and  by 
other  local  disturbances,  such  as  the  sinking  of    .  .1st 
Unes  in  some  places,  and   their  elevation  in  others. 
Hut  he  does  not  deny  for  a  moment  that  geology 
neither  points  to  a  beginning  nor  an  end,  that  it  hw 
no  chronological  sequence  whatever,  that  its  history 
has  no  precise  epoch  to  start  from,  and  is  a  mere  story 
without  dates,  and  that  it  cannot  tell  us,  accordingly 
when  any  changes  that  it  narrates  took  place,  or  how 
long  they  were  in  progress.    With  the  aid  of  the 
Accadian  and  other  Babylonian  records,  we  can  trace 
back  the  history  of  the  world  for  over  four  millenniums, 
and  we  now  know  that  no  physical  changes  of  any 
consequence,  in  the  crust  of  the  earth,  have  taken 

f l^^^^^K  ""-l?-^  *****  ^^.1'*  P"'°^  ""^  *'«"«•  The  Euphrates 
and  the  Tigris  still  descend  from  their  sources,  in 
the  mountains  of  Armenia,  to  the  Persian  Gulf  on  the 
same  geographical  lines  as  they  did  long  before  the 
days  of  Abraham.  The  Falls  of  Niagara  still  take 
their  final  leap  into  the  chasm  below,  just  as  they 
did  when  the  upper  lakes  ceased  to  discharge  them- 
selves into  the  Missouri  River,  and  turned  instead 
into  the  channel  which  the  Deluge  had  rent  for  them 
through  Queenston  Heights.  The  Nile  still  follows 
the  same  course  to  the  sea,  which  it  pursued  when 
Mizraim  and  his  language  group  established  their 
home  along  its  lower  waters.  The  waters  of  Abana 
and  Pharpar,  nvers  of  the  ancient  city  of  Damascus, 
still  sparkle  in  the  sunshine  of  the  Orient  just  as  they 
did  when  Naaman,  the  Syrian  general,  proudly 
boasted  that  they  were  better  than  all  the  waters  of 


fi  ]»« 
I 

m 


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J 16    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

il'^'  <^J^'"B'  '•  ")•  And  the  same  nilt  holds 
good,  with  regard  to  niimeroas  other  well-kno^ 
pomtj  of  historical  or  geographicaJ  interest    iJI 

|pWca"„set-atea-;     S 

£feF?r----"-^^^^^^ 

the  Deluge  and  at  a  period  or  periods  of  the  world'! 
physical  history  of  which  we  know  nothing  whatever 
It  IS  a  region  of  cloud-land  and  mystery  just  as  much 
IV  ^  \r!^  ^!°'°^^*  °^  arch^lo^s-'t  as  ?t?s  to 
where"Sl  2i  "?S  "'°''  uneducated  ^tellect ;  anS 
Where  all  are  ahke  at  sea.     Speculative  science     n 

ihn.  f  ??  '""J*"^'  ^^^  '"^^"t^d  various   fa  rrSlis 
about  this  unknown  region,  and  among  the  St  That 

Tn  the^stervTeK  "'^•'^- ,1''^"  ^"  *^^^  Predecessors 
m  tne  story  field,  have  neither  so  id  fact  nor  inductive 
reason   behind   them.    For  aught  we  know    ereat 
changes  produced  by  the  miraculous  interJentiS  o 
the  Creator,  may  have  taken  place  during  the  manv 
centuries  between  the  Creation  and  the  DeLr^n 
the  more  remote  and  uninhabited  parts  of  the  larth 
and  which  geologists  maintain  took  'Ss?  periods  of 
time  to  accomplish.    But  God  has  not  s?en  fit  to 
place  any  precise  knowledge,  in  this  direction.  Jth  n 

such  a  mental  edifice,  m  the  premises,  as  may  be 

r  rr  o^4'en7;  '^"-^  ^^p^^^-^'  <>-  ----^ 

to  r  °^  *^  ""^^'  *^^y°"^  ^J^^t  LamJch  Sates  L 
to  Its  unproductiveness,  recent  geological  discove^ 
very  strongly  indicates  that  the  temperate  zoneT 
not  only  of  Europe  but  also  of  this  continent,  were 
at  a  remote   period   subjected,  probably  for  sevTral 


THE  CREATION  TO  THE  DELUGE.    217 

centuries,  to  an  unusurl    heat.    This  period  would 
be  anterior  to  the  Deluge,  for  subsequent  to  that 
catastrophe   the    climatic    condition    of   the    earth 
has  experienced  no  permanent  change  of  any  kind, 
any  more  than    its  crust.     Everything  in   physical 
nature,  during  all  the  post-diluvian  ages,  has  remained 
m  the  same  condition  as  we  behold  it  to-day.     The  fact 
of  a  period,  prior  to  the  Deluge,  of  unusual  heat,  in  the 
northern  parts  of  the  earth,  has  of  recent  years  been 
supported  by  a  great  variety  of  geological  circum- 
stantial evidence  of  a  thoroughly  sound  character. 
During  that  period  the  ice  must  have  almost,  if  not 
entirely,  disappeared  from  the  Arctic  regions,  and 
tiiere  was  a  warm  open  sea  at  the  North  Pole.    This 
fact  was  proved,  in  recent  years,  by  the  discovery  of 
the  remains  of  a  rich  vegetation  on  a  hill,  1500  feet 
above  the  sea  level,  in  northern  Greenland,  which 
Lyell  thmks  must  have  belonged  to  the  Miocene  or 
farlier  period  of  the  world.    In  1869  the  geologist 
Whymper  collected  no  less  than  137  species  of  plants 
m  Greenland,  and  194  species  in  other  parts  of  the 
Arctic  regions.     Over  half  of  this  number  were  trees, 
mcluding  the  sequoia  of  California,  beeches,  oaks, 
poplars,  maples,  walnuts,  and  even  a  magnolia,  two 
cones  of  which  were  found,  proving  that  this  splendid 
evergreen  had  not  only  lived  but  even  ripened  its  fruit 
within  the  Arctic  Circle.     Even  in  Spitzbergen,  as  far 
north  as    latitude  79°,  twenty-five  species  of  fossil 
plants  have  been  obtained,  including  some  of  the  lar- 
gest trees.     Such  a  vigorous  growth  of  trees,  within  a 
few  hundred  miles  of  the  pole,  where  the  ground  is  at 
present  covered  with  almost  perpetual  snow  and  ice, 
and  even  dwarf  willows  and  a  few  herbaceous  plants 
are  now  rarely  met  with,  shows  the  mild  climate  which 
must  at  one  time  have  prevailed  far  within  the  Arctic 
regions.^     During  this  warm  period,  which  evidently 
was  accompanied   by  copious  rains,  a  flora  of  the 
richest  description   flourished,   which  may  possibly 

>  Lyell's  S.  Elements  of  Geology,  p.  239. 


I'':i 


m 


'M 


218    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

have  developed  into  the  coal  beds,  which  geologists 
ascribe  to    a   much    more   remote  origin.    It  is  a 
remarkable  fact,  however,  that    by    a   providential 
arrangement  the  great  coal  beds  of  the  world  are 
placed  in  the  temperate  or  more  northern  regions, 
where  they  would  be  readily  available  for  the  future 
needs  of  mankind,  and  that  warm  countries  have  only 
a  comparaiwely  limited  supply  of  this  necessary  article. 
When  we  consider  the  great  depths  at  which  coal  is 
now  found,  in  some  cases  nearly  half  a  mile,  and  that 
It  may  yet  be  discovered  at  a  still  much  greater  depth. 
It  appears  as  if  the  larger  deposits  of  coal,  like  iron  and 
other  solid  substances,  which  enter  into  the  composi- 
tion  of  the  crust  of  the  earth,  formed  part  of  the  origi- 
nal creation,  and  already  existed  when  the  dry  land 
was  miraculously  elevated  from  the  watery  chaos. 

Geological  discovery  has  further  demonstr;.*ed,  that 
during  the  warm  period  north  of  the  equator,  which 
evidently,  for  reasons  which  we  will  presently  adduce, 
lasted  up  to  the  Deluge,  a  great  emigration  of  the 
larger  wild  animals  took  place  from  tropical  districts 
into  the  temperate  zone.    The  remains  of  the  elephant, 
the  rhinoceros,   the    hippopotamus,  the  tiger,  and 
the  hyena,  have  been  found  not  only  in  France,  Ger- 
many, and  other  parts  of  continental   Europe,  but 
also  in  England,  to  which  these  animals  must  have 
crossed  on  dry  land  at  some  point  where  the  English 
Channel  now  exists.     In  some  cases,  among  these 
remains,  flint  arrow-heads  and  other  implements  of 
stone  have  been  found,  showing  that  man  existed 
at  that  period.* 

On  this  continent  geological  discovery  has  shown, 
that  the  human  race  existed  at  a  very  early  period 
m  Its  southern  or  warmer  regions.  But  no  remote 
human  remains  have  ever  been  discovered  in  its  tem- 
perate or  northern  zones,  which  appear  to  have  been 
wholly  surrendered  to  the  lower  animals,  several 
species  of  which  were  of  extraordinary  size.    During 

1  Lyell's  S.  Elements  of  Geology,  p.  152. 


THE  CREATION  TO  THE  DELUGE.    219 

the  warm  antediluvian  period,  which  prevailed  evi- 
dently over  the  northern  part  of  this  continent  at  the 
same  time  as  it  did  in  Europe,  vast  herds  of  the  mam- 
moth, and  other  species  of  elephant,  undisturbed  by 
man,  roamed  through   the  forests   and  savannas  of 
Siberia,  and  in  other  districts  far  within  the  Arctic 
Circle.     Huge  animals  of  the  mastodon  and  other 
types  prevailed  all  over  the  northern  parts  of  the  United 
States  and   Canada.     In  explorations   made  in   the 
Rocky  Mountain  region,  extending  from  1870  to  1876, 
fossil  remains  were  found  in  rock  strata,  near  the  sur- 
face of  ancient  lake  beds,  of  huge  birds  with  teeth,  of 
flying  dragons  with  a  wing-spread  of  twenty-five  feet, 
of  animals  of  the  sea-serpent  type  sixty  feet  long, 
and  of  land  reptiles  eighty  feet  long.     In  1845  the 
skeleton  of  a  huge  mastodon,  with  tusks  eleven  feet 
in  length,  was  found  in  the  bed  of  a  small  drained 
lake  near  Newburg,  New  York.     All  the  fossil  remains 
found  in  the  northern  part  of  this  continent  lay  quite 
near  the  surface  of  the  soil,  or  beneath  beds  of  gravel. 
Quite  recently  (1902)  the  carcass  of  a  large  mammoth 
was  uncovered  in  the  Yukon  gold  district  by  miners, 
which  ,had  been  so  well  preserved  in  the  ice  that  it 
made  good  food  for  the  sleigh  dogs.     These  facts  go 
to  prove,  that  on  this  continent  no  changes  of  any 
account  have  taken  place  in  the  crust  of  the  earth 
since  the  Deluge. 


M 


;.     (' 


fc^« 


CHAPTER  XL 


THE  DELUGE  OR  THE  FLOOD. 

The  sketch  we  have  drawn  in  the  preceding  chapter 

hJt  ^"t""^^^  '°''^¥°"  °^  "»«  antediluvian  wS  Id.' 
has  brought  us,  step  by  step,  to  the  period  imme- 
diately preceding  the  Deluge,  and  the  Biblical  m?- 
rative  agam    becomes    available   for  our    historical 
guidance.     When  God.  in  his  righteous  wrath  at  the 
general  prevalence  of  violence  and  other  wickedness 
on  the  earth    determined  to  destroy  mankind,  one 
good   man,  Noah,  alone   found  grace  in  his  sieht 
What  little  we  know  of  this  patriarch  shows  him  to 
have  been  a  man  of  culture,  of  wide  information 
and  well-versed  in  the  arts  and  sciences.    WhTn  God 
directed  him  to  build  a  huge  ark.  fully  equal  in  s£e 
to  the  large  steamships  that  now  plough  the  seas 
and  very  nearly  of  the  same  dimensions,  no  specSl 
instructions,  as  to  working  details,  were  given  him- 

rna^.?/rT''  P>"-  A^  '^^^'^S  '^^^^'  the  squar- 
ing and  bending  into  shape,  of  all  the  great  timbers 
of  gopher  woo<r,  the  forging  of  all  the  bllts  and  naik 

SS^r^n /h''.*^  ^'^  three-Seeker,  and  the  making  of 
pitch  so  that  Its  seams  might  be  thoroughly  caufted 

N«.h'?  V"^  T"  °"^  ^'?  ^^'"^^"^y  ^»  ^ell  within 
woahs  already  acquired  knowledge.  Probably  he 
had  bu.lt  smaller  craft  before,  but  tie  construct!  of 
hZT  "^^^^  ***'P  *^  *  "^^  experience  for  him. 
n!^.   7  u  *"  **'  «"pH«d  in  the  work  we  have  no 

v.^  f  ♦  "*^"'F' >"*  "°  ^°"bt  't  took  several 
years  for  .ts  compfetion,  during  which  he  continually 


THE  DELUGE  OR  THE  FLOOD.      221 

warned  the  multitude  of  their  approaching  danger, 
and  that  in  order  to  avert  the  Divine  wrath  they  must 
repent  of  their  wickedness,  and  refrain  from  further 
evil  deeds.  It  is  quite  probable,  and  entirely  conso- 
nant with  God's  mercy  and  goodness,  as  in  the  case 
of  Jonah's  mission  to  Nineveh,  many  centuries  after- 
wards, that  Noah  and  his  sons  travelled  into  other 
countries  to  warn  their  peoples  to  repent,  and  that, 
owing  to  the  universal  prevalence  of  a  single  form  of 
speech,  his  warnings  gradually  reached  the  most  dis- 
tant centres  of  civilisation.  "  When  once  the  long- 
suffering  of  God,"  says  the  Apostle  Peter,  "  waited 
in  the  days  of  Noah  while  the  ark  was  a  preparing, 
wherein  few,  that  is,  eight  souls,  were  saved  by 
water  "  (i  Peter  iii.  20).  "  And  spared  not  the  old 
world,"  continues  the  same  apostle,  "  but  saved  Noah, 
a  preacher  of  righteousness,  bringing  in  the  flood 
upon  the  world  of  the  ungodly"  (2  Peter  ii.  5). 
These  texts  plainly  show  that  while  the  ark  was  being 
built  Noah  preached  to  the  people  the  necessity  of 
repentance,  and  a  change  from  their  wicked  ways. 
But  the  people  did  not  repent.  While  the  neighbour- 
ing population  no  doubt  naturally  regarded  with  as- 
tonishment and  much  curiosity,  the  huge  ship  that 
Noah  was  constructing,  or  having  constructed,  and 
the  size  of  which  gradually  increased  with  the  prog- 
ress of  the  passing  years ;  and  noticed  how  strongly 
it  was  framed,  and  the  great  number  of  large  iron 
bolts  and  long  nails  which  held  its  huge  beams  and 
stout  planks  together,  they  must  have  looked  on  him 
as  a  man  afflicted  with  some  strange  description  of 
lunacy,  whose  warnings,  accordingly,  of  an  approach- 
ing catastrophe,  and  calls  to  repentance,  were  un- 
worthy of  serious  notice.  The  current  of  their  daily 
lives  flowed  on  as  usual  in  the  same  old  grooves; 
and  Noah's  preaching  produced  no  change  therein. 
Our  blessed  Saviour  graphically  depicts  the  existing 
situation  of  things  when  he  says :  "For  as  in  the  days 
before  the  Flood  they  were  eating  and  drinking,  mar- 


I: 


ym  I 


1% 


Hii 


m 


222 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


li  . 


2w.5  ?  P^lu^  '"  marriage,  until  the  day  that  Noah 

ctZtdlnJ^l'''^'^^^''^'^  "°t  until  the VTS 
5oT  win  ti  '^^'"f"  ?way."    (Matthew  xxiv.  36, 

the  lo^  nr^^  ^■^''^  'i'l  ^«  ^"»"y completed. and 
tne  long  procession  of  beasts  and  birdsf  that  had 

withm  the  ark.  and  the  stores  of  provisions  ffr  Noah 
and  his  family,  and  provender  for  the  animals   hS 

SoSn  an  ^'"^'^""^  '^'  ^''^  ^'^  closed  t^edoo', 
destn,rn„  ♦!?  ^^  "^^  'nercifuUy  about  to  save  from 
W?/h?  '/u!J^'^*'  '^'■°^^'  ^h'<=h  """St  have  CO™ 
not  ffn  t^^'V^^'*^  extraordinary  proceedings.  couW 
not  fail  to  realise  at  last  that  some  very  unusual  oc- 

wZrif  H  \\r '  ^' '^^"^-  The  feeling  of  security 
which  had  hi  herto  prevailed  now  began  to  change 

T.rT  °^  t''"!'  ""^  ^  presentiment  of  some  a|! 

UD  in  mfn-^^"?"°*^  ^^e^^  commenced  to  grow 
up  in  mens  minds.  s'"»» 

the^  Finn?'  ^""^  "'■'^'""'.'^  ^""«"  Biblical  narrative  of 
the  Flood,  so  minute  in  its  details  and  even  dates 
forms  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  vividly  descrio-' 
tive  portions  of  the  Book  of  Genesis.  It  is  a  woS- 
bJtif  ?;•  *'d^'/5*^Peated  in  one  formo  anoXr 
by  the  traditions  of  the  human  race.  Let  us  turn  for 
a  brief  space  to  the  seventh  chapter  of  Genesis  and 
orNoTh'fl??  '-^TJ""^--  ^"  *^^«  hundred'h'yejj 
day  of  the  io;;;;  t""  '^'°°f  '"°"*^'  ^^  seventeenth 

floodSatlsrof  S2  ^"°^^''  "P'  ^°^  *^  *'"d°^«  (or 
noodgates)  of  heaven  were  opened.     And  the  rain 

the'wfr  *^"  earth  forty  days  Ld  forty  nighte     inS 

SfJ  "k'"*''"^^**^"^  ^'^'^  "P  the  ark.  and  it  was 
lilted  up  above  the  earth.     And  the  waters  prevaHed 

rerra^r\*'f  r^'^""  ^"  thehighStat 
were  under  the  whole  heaven  were  covered.  Fifteen 
cubits  (about  27  feet)  did  the  waters  prevail  and  the 
mountains  were  covered.     And  all  flesh  died  that 

Td  elT"  '^'■'^''b  ^°*!!  ^°*''  «"d  <=^"le.  and  beasts 
and  every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth. 


THE  DELUGE  OR  THE  FLOOD.   223 

and  every  man.  All  in  whose  nostrils  was  the  breath 
of  life,  of  all  that  was  in  the  dry  land,  died.  And 
Noah  only  remained  alive,  and  they  that  were  with 
him  in  the  ark.  And  the  waters  prevailed  upon  the 
earth  a  hundred  and  fifty  days.  In  this  account  it 
will  be  noticed,  that  while  everything  on  the  dry 
land  died,  no  mention  whatever  is  made  of  either  salt 
or  fresh-water  fish,  which  still  continued  to  exist  as 
before. 

In  the  succeeding  chapter  (viii.)  of  Genesis  we  are 
told  in  continuation,  that  at  the  end  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  days  God  remembered  Noah,  and  made  a 
wind  to  pass  over  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  the  waters 
assuaged  (diminished).  The  fountains  also  of  the 
deep,  and  the  windows  of  heaven  were  stopped,  and 
the  rain  from  heaven  was  restrained.  And  the  waters 
returned  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth  continually, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  hundred  and  fifty  days  the  wa- 
ters were  abated.  And  the  ark  rested  in  the  seventh 
month,  on  the  seventeenth  day  of  the  month,  upon 
the  mountains  of  Ararat.  And  the  waters  decreased 
continually  until  the  tenth  month,  on  the  first  day  of 
the  month  were  the  tops  of  the  mountains  seen.  And 
it  came  to  pass  at  the  end  of  forty  days  that  Noah 
opened  the  window  of  the  ark  he  had  made.  And 
he  sent  forth  a  raven  which  went  forth  to  and  fro 
until  the  waters  were  dried  up  from  off  the  earth.  Also 
he  sent  forth  a  dove  from  him  to  see  if  the  waters 
were  abated  from  off  the  face  of  the  ground.  But 
the  dove  found  no  rest  for  the  sole  of  her  foot,  and 
she  returned  unto  him  into  the  ark,  for  the  waters 
were  on  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  And  he  stayed 
yet  other  seven  days,  and  again  sent  forth  the  dove 
out  of  the  ark,  and  the  dove  came  to  him  in  the 
evening,  and  lo  in  her  mouth  was  an  olive  leaf  plucked 
off,  so  Noah  knew  that  the  waters  were  abated  from 
off  the  earth.  And  he  stayed  yet  other  seven  days,  and 
sent  forth  the  dove,  which  returned  not  again  to  him 
any  more.     And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  six  hundredth 


:i !' 


i-  1 


i 


it  If 


I'i 


I 


i '  t'l 


224    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE, 
and  first  year  of  Noah's  life,  in  the  first  month  ♦!,. 

Sfthf  V^'  T"^^'.*'^*^  wktersS^reTrieTup  fr?m 
off  the  earth.     And  in  the  second  month,  on  X 

Sried"  "t  ZZi''^  f  y  V^'  "^nth.  wasV  eaSh 
dried.    In  these  details  we  have  the  full  historv  of  fh!. 

catastrophe  of  the  Deluge.    No  record  eveJ  made  bv 

truth  more  clearly  on  its  face;  and  the  unoreS^l 

reader  cannot  fail  to  realise  that  he  hw  befori  Wm  a 

narrative  of  literal  facts,  which  arLet  consecutive 

order  precisely  in  the  manner  stated.    There  ^s  no 

andT  n  ^^?.SS*^!:ation.  nothing  sensationaUbout  i? 

and  the  narrative  is  restricted  to  a  simple  and  direct 

account  of  all  the  leading  facts,  as  Sfey  arose  one 

after  another.    These  facte  leave  no  roTm  whatever 

for  any  allegorical  interpretation.    They  must  eitheJ 

embody  the  actually  true  histoiy  of  a  wondS  series 

of  events,  or  be  wholly  falsehoods.    No  Xr  cone  u- 

sion  IS  warranted  by  the  premises. 

nnJ  nf "17'  ^''^  ^°"''  y^^"-    The  commencement  of 
one  of  these  years  corresponded  with  our  month  of 

trees  S.ic'i'Ih''^?'^  P^'^J'**^^^  °"  'he  fruit  of  the 
trees,  which  then  began  to  bud.    Their  second  vear 

theirflof  ^  '"^"^"S"'!'  ^h^"  '^'  owners'Tove'^^l 
their  flocks  under  a  rod,  and  the  tenth  of  the  lambs 
were  ^ven  to  the  Levites.    Their  civil  year  com! 

t"aTtlonX%;,^*^  of  September,  becauseTf'^an  oTd 
tradition  that  the  world  was  created  on  that  dav 
This  was  the  legal  year  of  the  Jews,  and  S>vernTd 

biShfS-%S^-*^tJ"^"^^^'  °^^»  contractsfof^he 
k£  TK^'""  '^Z^'^.'"^"'  ^"^  °f  the  reigns  of  their 
k^ngs  Their  ecclesiastical,  or  sacred,  year  began  in 
March,  or  on  the  first  day  of  the  month  Nis2  bi" 
cause  of  the  time  they  had  departed  out  of^iypt 

colt  Ifk^^i  ^^'"^  '"^"''^^  '"  '^'  MosSc^£: 
bv  The  L  f    •   l°°1' *''"^  "'""'^  ^'ther  be  measured 

we  are  not  t'olT"f  °n  ^^'^ll  IT'^  y^^^'  b"t  whicS 
used  thTl  "^  '"  all  probability  the  civil  year  was 
used,  the  second  month  of  which  would  cover  por- 


THE  DELUGE  OR  THE  FLOOD.      325 

d^y"  of  w°kh*^Jhf„^?^^^^^^^  *'  seventeenth 

3  «r  M     •    ?*"  *"*  ^'°°<*  ^gan,  would  be  the 

month  ?hrTo^'."  *^^  ^4  <=°"»«^»«d  S: 

monui.  me  forty  days  during  which  the  rain  d*. 
scended  would  extend  until  the  12th  ofDecember 
JreUed  ^""A'«^?"d  fifty  days  in  which  the  w^te« 
prevailed,  and  continued  to  increase  in  volume,  would 

Si-nf  orA  am  ^"i''  J^  ^'^  -tef  upolTthS  m^C?- 
2^;  of  the  SnU  *?*'  '^T^  month,  on  the  27th 
NmH  U  5,.  1!^'.?^  ""^^  **^  ^""y  dried,  and 
vearM^tln  /'"''  ^'J^'"  ?  '"''dence  therein  of  one 

^eem  tit  Z  "^T*  ^".""«^  ^^  ^'^^  ««"«  ^^  do«»  not 
seem  that  the  ark  moved  to  any  treat  distanr,.  fi.«X. 

w^?ht*mt::V'  r  -^inJlircontTcJeltd 
wh}.i^  miraculously  preserved  from  the  daneers 
which  would  have  met  it  had  it  been  blown  out  to! e" 

whe?e ^  Uu«  r  h"'^*^  ''^7"''  ""^^'^  prevailed  eSe: 
wnere.     Thus  God's  providence  not  only  provided  a 

way  of  escape  for  Noah,  in  the  ark  itseinbut  als^ 
shtpwre 'k.  '""'"''  ***  ^'•'^  ^--  ^^  d-gers  of 
V]nnT  every,  or  any,  point  of  view,  the  storv  of  the 
Flood  ,s  a  most  wonderful  one,  and  graphical  pour- 

Kna'lsT/th'n"'  ''^^*^°P^^  tfat^vefLTd 
me  annals  of  the  human  race.     We  mav  u;#.ll  «fo»j 

aghast  when  we  contemplate  the  sud^e?^an5  appa^^ 

whoS    ^""^""^d  and  fifty-seven  millions  of  souls 
who  had  overspread  all  the  warm  regions  of  the  earth 
m  the  nearly  two  millenniums  and  a  quarter  of  yefrs 
smce  the  Great  on      We  are  tnW  *hr,^*uL-  J  ^ 
floodtrafrpc  «f  i,r  °  *"^*  *"e  wmdows  or 

scendfri  L  .1^''^"  ""^'^  °P^"^d'  *"d  the  rain  de- 
scended upon  the  earth  continuously  for  forty  days 
and  forty  nights.  The  heaven  alluded  to  in  Sws  cZl 
would  be  the  Jewish  heaven,  which  merely  embraced 
the  region  of  the  clouds  and  the  earth',  loweratmos- 

'S 


yii 


"  i& 


■^  ;i 


iiii^..i 


226    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

phere.    We  know,  in  our  own  day,  that  when  what 
IS  called  a  cloud-burst  takes  place,  what  dest?ucUon 
of  property  and  loss  of  life  frequency  result,  and  K 
hundreds  of  people  are  swept  to  instant  deaS     We 
can  accordingly  realise  som?  of  the  horrors'of  the 
universal  flood.    While  fierce  torrents  of  JL°n  accom! 
oanied  by  terrific  lightnings,  deluged  thT  Und   the 
^°""*^n»  of  the  great  deep  were  broken  up    most 
probably  by  earthquakes,  and  huge  tidal  wavers*  swep 
everywhere  in  from  the  great  seas.     Languaee  fa5s 
o  depict  the  feeling  of  tirrible  consterS^wS 
seized  upon  the  populations  of  the  earth  when    he 
final  catastrophe,  foretold  by  Noah,  so  fiercely  and 
relentlessly  at  last  fell  upon  them,  and  nrpossfble 
way  of  escape  presented  itself.    No  swirSSier  how! 

rushing  current  on  the  land,  or  the  huge  waves  break! 

hf  storrtiaf  hT,  i'^  ^'•^•"^'ycraff  could  weSer 
ine  storm  that  howled  remorselessly  above  the  waste 
of  waters,  and  vessels  and  their  cre,^  everywhere 
went  down  before  it  Presently  wreckage  oTeve^ 
description  was  violently  dashed  hither  and  twIS2^ 

W     "''"^  '"'^'  ^'^  '^^''^  *°  '^^  ^*"«<^"  of  the 

a  I!i?.*Sf  "flf'^*^  °^  *^«  D<^l"ge  was  only  part  of 
a  great  moral  allegory,  as  some  of  the  aposUes  of 

i-I  dUnr^*"!!;  ^"tit«"\would  fain  lead  us  tobelleve. 
IS  disproved  by  abundance  of  testimony  of  the  most 
convincing  character.     The  Deluge   bequeathe?  to 
OinVriF^'^^^P^'^^'  landmark^".  not^oSfy  in  the 
t^e  t^fif  .K"V?'r  '■"  '^^  New.    XI  prevailed  over 
its  dThl^  *J^\'''S^*^''  mountain...  and  (Sere  deposited 
lh.lL    /  t  ^"*^  memorial  of  mingled  sea  and  river 
w^ter'fli'ir  K?  K*'^?*  '*.  r'  b°*h%  fresh  and  sal 
.^focean  L-'«.      '""  "^  u'""*  '""*^  "^^'''^'^  ^"^  roll- 
erf  a^wa?  fh^/    ^''^T'^T  *=*''"^^  ^th  them.    So 
tndeven  ^Li""'^  V^^  '^"^  *="'"^«"t«  *«t  the  hills 

their  ZvelbSr"'?'^'  ^T  T'^^^'^  ^^^^^ded  of 
ineir  gravel  beds,  and  even  boulder  formations.    And 


THE  DELUGE  OR  THE  FLOOD.   «, 

neath  the  surface  of  the  rishinl  *»  °"^  *""P"*  ^e- 
terrible  and  destructive  to  eJ"-"!^  ""'^  "'"  '"°'' 
In  eveo^  direction  there  wa7de?t?  ''^  "r^'  "f*' 
death.  The  vast  herds  of  tht  °f «**»  -  "othing  but 
elephants  which  hlJl.u    .      mammoth  and  other 

lestTby  mat  oveMh^*t'rt°h  ''°""*'^'  ^l?^"^  ""'"°- 
nent.  or^the  v^rpll?^  of  sf/]!!  ^'''^  °^**^''  ^°"«- 
overwhelmed  bv  th^  r^  •  ^^"*'  ^"«  suddenly 
and  gravd     As  mo..  ^!?'"^''"«f  ^'^'"PWt  of  water 

in  a  St  extreTel^n^it Xv  SV^T  .^°' 
parts  to  the  storm,  and  th^1r'fn«?^        "^  *^*""  '^•"^" 

usually  found  bene^JS  beSs  ;f'^?rte77.?;^^^^^^^  T 
as  a  ru  e,  all  pointinp^  !n  h!-  '  J.     ^^'^  *"sks, 

several  general  sfberiahJTeen'^'^  •  ^°' 

quany.    Where  the  erav2  1J«  ^       "u*  ^'-eat  ivory 

and  it^is  thus  presenfed  frim^the^rS?:'*'^*^  '?^^''; 

this  continent  Lwel  L^Jhe''^''  ^^'^^^urdened 
reptiles,  suddenly  SoD^JeH  i  °"'^^'"  i"^'  ^"^ 
remains,  here  aXhJi  f.  '  J"'''"^^  ^^^'"  ^ssil 
remote  existence  Th;  L^  '"ute  testimony  to  their 
when   Columbus  liftld'nT  °^  *^^  ^^^  ^^^'^ 


1 'Ml 


H  -ilil 


l'^  li  il 


'  '  'i 

i  If, 
^   'Wit! 


Mtoiocopv  nsounioN  tbt  omit 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


A  /APPLIED  IIVHGE    Inc 

^^  1653  East  Moin  StrMt 

r^  Roclwitar,  Nmr  York        U609      USA 

^  (716)  482 -0300- Phona 

S  (716)  288-S»a9  -Fo> 


:  { 


I  f 


228    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

found,  a  little  way  below  the  surfare  ^r  *u^       i    • 
the  fossil  remains  of  whales    ?n  S.  *^^  ^°,'''  '" 

have  been  stranded  there  wh!„fK       .°^ i^^'"  "^ust 
only  six  feet  below  the  °  Se  by  a T^er  i""^' 

^m^S  ^'  ""'"'■""^  -ddenlyltTelnlfte 

ancient  bed  of  some  S  .fl  T     j  '"'"^"^  '"  ">« 
or  beneath  beds  Tgrlvd  •   LS°?^  "'  »"'^'  'aje, 

ance,  in^'^any  pIac"^TSe1he""g?S.  teat 

i"4ne?ft.n  S^'Sta.t  T tf  "^^'^^^ 
seas  assumed  new  fom?  !^rf  ,k  ^"°"'  ■""<"» 
Enghsh  ChanneriowS^^;  ft"  fi«  tw  3>  °'  ^ 
sunlten  land.    LyeU  states  "«,«„„  """y^  ""= 

rrr':s%?'so''f''"^"^  for-mltioLT^hict  til 

alludr„gt  Stue/S'thete"  .^m^rh"""!'' '" 
brought  about  bv  /^rJ^     ^^'"^'     ">ay  have  been 

cons^ting  ^  ^^^J'^^Jj^t^ 

I  fe"''  ^-  E'^'nents  of  Geology,  p.  i8» 
Ibid.,  pp.  151,  279.  «•  i"-  ">3- 


THE  DELUGE  OR  THE  FLOOD.  229 

show  it  to  have  beS  fS'^""  ?"■<"=  P'"<><1. 
rai«d  again  '"aral  toe  "nTapJJjLr^r'' 
We"a  ^  Told  rc"'^'^ '"  ?«  «fS.'S,'e1S:,^/e" 

whe^r  S^Xt'tSa^tr-H''"  f"-""  *er,5^w 
India  are  over  five  mL,?„^™"I'^"  mounuins  of 

Lyell's  ooinion.  that  *rd"ep?et4°n  of  °.£Tr.;'!5 

rock-for^lnation"  *  TOa'coSfioT  rt^"  "^^^^  '" 
confirmation  from  fte  St  of  tj  f '  5?°"^ 
breakages  fonnd  in  "ll  warn"  at  tin,,^'"""''""^ 

re':n^^^a^i-r^;££^  SHI 

Slrf  °  S;  ^vS'r^'l-ar^a^Hri-r  °^" 
'  Lyell't  s.  Elementi  of  Geology,  p.  ,55. 


\:  \% 


i'lHl 


t:    t:- 

J         iri 


Ii,  )f 

fc- i'  J 


r: 


230    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

uncertain,  teaching  must  have  occupied  many  millions 
of  years,  may  all  have  miraculously  occurrf.j  durine 
the  period  of  the  Deluge,  and  that  the  doctrine  of 
physical  evolution  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with 
them.  Were  this  the  case,  as  seems  very  probable 
It  would  afford  additional  proof  of  the  Creation  of 
the  world  in  six  days  of  twenty-four  hours  each 

In  Europe,  all  the  wild  animals  which  had  emigrated 
thereto  from  tropical  regions  during  the  warm  ante- 
diluvian  period   evidently  wholly  disappeared  with 
the  Deluge.    All  the  huge  animals  of  monstrous  type 
which  roamed  over  the  northern  parts  of  this  con- 
tinent were  destroyed  at  the  same  time,  leaving  their 
fossil  remains,  in  peculiar  situations,  to  prove  their 
sudden  and  concurrent  extermination.     In  the  Neo- 
hthic,  or  post-diluvian,  period,  all  the  bones  of  the 
lower   animals    found    in    connection    with    human 
remains  belonged  to  the  same  type  as  exists  to-dav 
such  as  the  deer,  the  wild  boar,  and  the  ox.  There  can 
be  little  doubt  that  much  of  the  fossil  remains,  both  of 
nien  and  lower  animals,  found  in  recent  years  in  caves 
of  Europe  belonged  to  the  antediluvian  period,  and 
resulted  from  the  fact  that  a  common  shelter  was 
sought  in  these  caves  from  the  fierce  tempest  which 
prevailed,  and  that  all  perished  together  when  the  flood 
suddenly  rushed  in  upon  them,  and  prevented  escape 
rhis  was  obviously  the  case  in  England,  where  early 
m  the  past  century,  in    a  cave   at  Kirkdale,  called 
Kents  hole,  the  bones   of  three   hundred    hyenas 
young  and  old,  of  a  large  species  were  found.     These' 
wild  animals  no  doubt  had  previously  used  the  cave 
as  a  hiding  place,  fled  there   for   shelter  when  the 
fierce  storm  descended  upon  them,  and  so  perished 
together.     In  no  other  way  can  the  existence  of  such 
a  number  of  skeletons  of  the  same  species  of  animal 
and  in  the  same  place,  be  reasonably  accounted  for   ' 
Geologists  mainly  agree,  that  from  the  dawn  of  the 
Neolithic  period  the  crust  of  the  earth  appears  to 
have  been  much  in  the  same  condition  as  it  is  to- 


THE  DELUGE  OR  THE  FLOOD.      231 

daj';  and  that  any  changes  that  have  since  taken 
place  therein  were  of  a  very  limJteH  rhfr.^f  j 

wholly  due   to  local  and  nJt  gTierll  c^ses    '  T^^ 

undergone  little  radical  change  from  th?ear  ies^  dawn 
of  history;  and  any  modificatioITs  tLt  '.^av  havS 
taken  place  therein  resulted  from  the  disa^Slrance 

ture  fmnV  tS  •  ^''"^  ^°'^^^  ""Stained  the  mois- 
ahvay  aTtrac?'aSH°k  "•"^' ^'hi^h  great  woodlands 
^!:If ^  »*  '  <?"^  "^^P*  *he  summer  air  pleasantlv 

cool.    More  surface  water  would  accordingly  descend 

ia"  ?ite"s" tKf  f"'"."^  u°'  "^-'  and  -ot"  "3' 
lactites  would  be  formed  there  in  a  few  years  than 
centunes  would  afterwards  produce.  whenThe  sheT 

be"d^ried"uVlv%H  '^  ^l!  '°""'  ^"^  thTs^fw^rid 
On  ,u-       ^.-^y  *^^  unobstructed  rays  of  the  sun 
On  this  continent  we  can  readily  comDrehenH  Tht 

o  the  fall  blaze  of  the  sun.    Great  sSi  hi  been 

•l«LTS„r  ■*'  '""^  '^"^tas  ?o"nd  J 
iZik  r.-  .t*"""'  '"  ■=="«•  ='«'  the  enormous 
length  of  ttme  they  represented.  But  they  never  took 

™  gTbe'S'e'^^^'i^rH^''"'^  °f  «>«-S.rns 
mignt  oe  largely  modified  by  surrounding  conditionQ 

In  other  words,  they  viewed  the  situat  Sf  from    °e  ; 

own    wonder-loving    standpoint,    and  7gn3     he 

opposite  side  of  the  case  altogether.    That  has  been 

Jufetoi:r  ''""'"  "'^""  '"  thepSrUls'S 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  fact  of  a  Creation 

-of  a  Beginning  of  Things -found  a  large  pl^" 

m  the  traditions  and  myths  of  various  peoplfs  of  the 


•  I  111 


ii 


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r  I' 
id 


I  f. 


f.-i 


r;  ■  ?' 


1  't 


If,*  ' 


c 


ii 


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232    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

TdIZ,'^^"'  ".";!  "■??""•    But  the  catastrophe  of 
a  Uduge  left  a  still  wider  and  deeper  imoresskm  n- 

.rKa-j^-ritnfeiS^^ 

?uie?«:!i'rortk*£H; 

exteS  J'o^'ii  J„"o?  ^S  r„e^rst%?o4 
influence  our  convictions  strongly 

Of  ttSf^ora„7  -S-^'s-olliTefetlor  X 

iSnro?^s-o'r5,"rd''cis"A^°*^*^^^^^^^^ 

their  U„g„age^,™d"tca'',S'4or^1,racr„1&^^ 

r|^^it«.STer;Tj5SS 
^eat  FlooT'in''' v'k"'  "'^'"^  °^  '«^  disSnct.  o   a 

cans.    He  adds  that  these  crude  representations  were 


THE  DELUGE  OR  THE  FU)OD.      233 

oarK  or  ratt  which  landed  them  on  the  tnn  r.f  *u^ 
lTe"SLoP°''r"!l-    Schoolcra™  .Tn  emi„*e°n^t  travd 

TJ,lX^^  f  *^Past  century,  married  the  grand- 
daughter  of  an  Indian  chief,  learned  the  nat?ve 
language,  and  was  appointed  by  the  Un  ted  S?l  es 
government  as  its  agent  for  Indian  Affa"rs   was  the 

S-ibes  witl^whnrK  "'^  '^*''  **'  ^"  *»»«  I"dian 
triDes,  with  whom  he  came  in  contact,  had  legends 

more  or  less  fantastic,  of  the  Deluge.    This  fact  he 

adds,  was  especially  noteworthy  Vs    regarded  'the 

Siada  I^  Pnivn "  •  '^^  Algonquins  and  Crees  of 
Fl?«^  rose  hfc'fh"  '"y*»'°'°gy  «t '?  stated  that  the 
and  th J?  rlf  ^  r^  ^''^  1""  approached  the  horizon, 
and  that  refuge  from  the  waters  was  found  by  the 

hLSST  nT"^  °"  ^  Sreat  mystic  mountain?^  At 
Hawaii  the  Deluge  was  called  the  flood  of  the  Moon 
and  at  New  Zealand  the  flood  of  the  Sun.^    Anc°ent 
Persian  traditions  allude  to  the  Deluge,  and  to  the 

sTx  mSsT!?^  °"  *i^  *.°P  °^  MounlVondi  when 
of  th^  worlH  ^^i  P^s^ed  aft"  it  had  made  the  circuit 
All  .hT*  ^^"^  ^^  ^^^  ^"  covered  with  water. 
AU  Idolaters  on  earth  died  through  the  great  rain 
Afterwards  a  wind  from  heaven  divided  the  water' 
and  carried  it  awa>-  in  clouds  as  souls  bear  bod  es! 

Saced  i?T.'l'°"f  ^"'^  ^\'^^  ^«*^^  together,  and 
Se    i.L      ^  boundary  to  the  earth;  and  thus  were 

Shol£  sl  W?r'  ^V"'^'^'  J^^  ^'"•"^"t  oriental 
searcS,  IL^i'^p  Jones,  tells  us.  in  his  Asiatic  re- 
f,  ff  ««  '  ^^'  the  Brahminical  legend  of  the  Deluge 
is  at  once  interesting  and  picturesque.  The  general 
pralaya  or  destruction  is  the  subject  of  the  first  Purana 

'  Polynesian  Researches,  Vol.  11.  pp.  58,  59. 


!:■ 


I    ;» 


i  'Ml 


*'  'I 


:;i{ 


234    THE  SUPREMACY  OP  THE  BIBLE. 

wckedness   would   be  destroyed   by  a  Ddu^c   bu 

demon,  and  recovered  the  Vedas.  ThrciSnese^nv^ 
several  traditions  relating  to  the  Deluee      On^Tf 

STeinT"  *'^'  ^J^"^  ^'-S'  a\ad  spirit,  enraged 
at  being  overcome  in  war,  gave  such  a  blow  with  Ws 
head  agams  a  single  pillar  of  the  sky,  that  tlTe  vauk 

the'^'earth"-  fur'N"'Sr*''''"^"?°"^  «°°^  overwhelmed 
tne  earth ,  but  Nm  Noa  made  a  boat  of  wood  anH 

saved  himself     According  to  Lucian  who  flouri^Sed 

trJ^-  T"^.  ""V^i^y  °^  ^^^  Christian  era.  Greek 
traditions  closely  followed  the  Biblical  accoun  of  ?he 
Deluge.  Deucalion,  the  Scythian,  is  mentioned  as 
the  progenitor  of  the  second  race  of  menf  the  elrlier 
generation  having  been  destroyed  bSause  of  their 
wickedness.    The  Roman  writer  Ovid,  who  hved  in 

slightly  different  version  of  the  catastroph? in  which 
he  states  that  Deucalion  and  his  wife  sought  refuce 
in  a  small  boat,  and  were  finally  strandfd  on  the 
summit  of  Mount  Parnassus.  In  the  folk  lore  of  the 
prim,  ive  Pagan  races  of  Northern  Europe,- the  Scan^ 
dmavians  and  the  Celts. -are  found  cur  ous  legends 
of  the  Deluge,  which  still,  however,  bear  a  resemblance 
to  those  of  the  more  highly  culti;ated  natlonTof  Se 


THE  DELUGE  OR  THE  FLOOD.   235 

h^lf '^'•,*'!f'  ""^'K  ^°^h  was  constructing  the  a  k' 

frS  ?^P*  ^^'^  "°  ^P*=^'^^  Story  of  the  Flood  a 
at  one  til"  S':r,"J^«trophe  to  the  human  ?ace! 
at  one  time  existed  there.  A  tomb  inscription  of 
the  period  of  Seti  L.  states  that  Ra.  the  creator  bein  J 

exterminate  the  human  race.  This  beine  done  Ra 
SanT^IVT"*'  °^^'^  ''''  ^"d  swears  w^hupSfted 

torv  of^Lh  f"-''°^  ""^l  fS^'"-  B^'-''^"^  i"  his  his- 
tory of  Babylonia  or  Chaldea  sheiks  of  the  kin^s 

oatriarcS^o^r'  ^''^  ^^^"^  he  confounds  the  ten 
patriarchs  of  Genesis,  who  existed  between  the  Crea 

St'hrl'^'  Deluge.    The  last  of  thesrS^gs  named 
Xisuthros,  was  warned  in  a  dream  by  the  god  Kronos 
Sefor'^  £"'  °"  '^'  '5th  of  the  month  DaSosTa^rtUe 

a  flood      Hr*"""  lu''r^  ^'  '"^"  should  perish  by 
a  flood.    He  was  therefore  to  collect  all  that  had 
been  consigned  to  writing,  and  bury  it  at  sToDara 
the  city  of  the  sun.    There  also  h7wL  to  build  a 

mends,  and  he  was  to  cause  animals  birds  and 
quadrupeds  to  enter  with  him.  and  to  p  ov  de  suffi 
cient  provisions.  He  was  moreover  to^prepare  the 
vessel  for  navigation.  When  Xisuthros  askedTwhat 
iolT.lJ'^  ^^  i°  ''^^''  ^«  ^^«  told  towards  the 
k  for  men  '  H^nK  *°  J^.f  '^''  ^^^'^  "^'^ht  come  of 
showed  ,^-;„cfK^.^''  ^i^  ^°^'  ^"'^  ^hen  the  flood 
snowed  signs  of  abatiag  he  sent  out  three  birds  in 
succession;   but  these  finding  no  food  nor  olace    o 

set  them  free,  but  they  returned  with  feet  stained  with 
mud     Sent  out  a  third  time  they  never  came  back 
Xisuthros  understood  from  this  that  the  earthTas  free 
from  water,  and  having  made  an  opening  ha    he  roof 


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236    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

of  the  ship,  saw  that  it  had  grounded  on  the  ton  of  a 
mountain.     He  then  descended  wUh  his  w^f?   hit 

ei"tf  *'-'j;"^  ^'^  P''°*'  »"^  having  woV  hipped  the 
earth  raised  an  altar  and  sacrificed  to  the  gJds      He 

rem  rthio  "  Th^"  ^'°  '^^^  accompS  hirJ 
ironi  tne  ship     The  survivors  sav  him  no  more  but 

gS's^ret^JoTh  ^^^-rHd">g  them  toT/ar'  tiTe* 
gods  return  to  Babylonia,  dig  up  the  writings  buried 

ins^mi^T'*  '^'V^  PS^^^'ty-  *"d  from  them 
instruct  men.    Berosus  adds  that  a  part  of  the  vessel 

of  Xisuthros  was  still  to  be  found  In  his  day!  Tn  Ac 
Gordyan  mountains  of  Armenia,  and  that  p  4rim! 
bring  from  thence  asphalt  scraped  from  ite  fraSte 
""•"b  •;  V.f  'I  ^''P  °^*^«  influence  of  wkcC' 

branches    o     tl  *i"''^'°"'r  °^,  *^^  various' ancient 
DrancJies    of  the   human   family   the  story  of  the 

Deluge  which  prevailed  among  the  AccaSAn.   S! 

ong^nal  people  of  Babylonia,  fr'om  a  peri^Tve"^ 

remote    antiquity,  most   nearly  approaches   to  tK 

Mosaic  narrative.    This  might  naturX  be  exoected 

and  aft!r  thi  n  1  *»"«»«"  ^F^'-a*  ^e  Creation 
and  after  the  Deluge,  — and  its  language  erouo 
accordingly,  would  be  in  the  best  position  f^  the' 
preservation  of  the  oral  or  written  histo^  of  man! 
kind.  It  is  quite  possible,  also,  that  they  klone  were 
permitted  m  the  providence  of  God  to  retahi  Se 
onginal  form  of  speech,  whicn  had  prevailed  Tn  the 
antediluvian  worid.  so  that  the  history  of  the  past 
S  \'^\^'^^'  transmitted  to  posterity.  Len"- 
rnant  and  other  eminent  Assyriologists  now  agree 
that  the  Accadian.  or  Sumerian.  language  was  ^o^e 

dfffirenT^'"!  ^a'"'"'  .°^  ^P*^^^^^  of  mankind^  and 
different  from  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  language! 

the  Hebrew     ""'*''  °"^"  "^^  '^'''^'^''^  ^^"  '« 

t;.hw!  '*°'^  °^u*^^?*''"l^  ^'^*="  ^y  the  cuneiform 
tablets  IS  much  fuller  than  that  of  Bercsus.  The 
three  sets  of  these  tablets  in  the  British  Museum! 


THE  DELUGE  OR  ThK  FLOOD.      217 
represent  different  periods  of  tin-  -    k..»  -        ..  . 

the   table,,  f„„„dT„  the'"Hb?L^''o  Tsiurbari 
were  copes  made  frnm  of.ii         '^         /^ssurbanipal 

•nd  the  narJifoel;  This  carriS  h  V.""'""  *™- 
remote  that  it  Uome,  SI  „M''"f '' '"  "?  '^e  so 
ancient  world  iKZ™,™?'!  f" ",'  ^"°'''  "f  «"•« 
fuller  than  ttat  mlde Z  Smi,h"'""^''"'°?  J?  '»"<^'' 
r«ent  advances'  ."lneLi"';fc■l4J"^f  1^1:3:: 

fnthe  SSh'T  "'^---'pA  wh'lTh  £  ZoS  sit 

.rhS'r  god^'.^tar.'"' """ '"  ■'  (■"'"  ^•^ 

M  &  SIS  Nf  .ararAat>  f  Jd 

the  Ubleu'^S.SSSet''  ""  """'  ""P"'^  »»y  '»»*  '""'^tor  where 


1-  ■, 


II 


P:f:i 


■'I'l 


m 


238    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


m 


!       »: 


and  finish  It  (quickly).     I  will  destroy  life  and  sub- 
stance (by  a  deluge).    Cause  thou  to  go  up  Into  the 
vessel  the  substance  of  all  that  has  lite.    The  vessiel 
thou  ahalt  build,  600  cubits  shall  be  the  measure  of 
itsi  length,  and  60  the  measure  of  its  breadth  and  of 
its  height.     (Launch   it)    thus   on   the  ocean,  and 
cover  it  with  a  roof     I  understood  and  said  to  Ea, 
My  lord,  (the  vessel)  that  thou  commandest  me  to 
build  thus,  when   I   shall  build  it;   young  and  old 
shall  laugh  at  me.     (Ea  opened   his  mouth  and) 
spoke;  If  they  laugh  at  thee  thou  shalt  say  to  them 
he  who  has  insulted  me  (shall  be  punished,)  for  the 
protection  of  the  gods  is  over  me.    I  will  exercise 
my  judgment  dn  that  which  is  on  high  and  that 
which  is  below,  .  .  .  close  the  vessel  .  .  .  enter  into  it, 
and  draw  the  door  of  the  ship  towards  thee.   Within 
it  thy  grain,  thy  furniture,  thy  provisions,  thy  riches, 
thy  menservants,  thy  maidservants,  and  thy  young 
people ;  the  cattle  of  the  field,  and  the  wild  beasts 
of  the  plain,  which  I  will  assemble,  and  send  to  thee 
shall  be  kept  behind  thv  door.  ...  On  the  fifth  day 
the  two  sides  of  the  ship  were  raised.    The  rafters 
in  its  covering  were  in  all   fourteen.     I  placed  its 
roof  and   I  covered   it.    I   embarked  in  it  on  the 
sixth  day;    I  divided  its   floors  on  the  seventh;    I 
divided  the  further  compartments  on  the  eighth.    I 
stopped  up  the  chinks  through  which  the  water  en- 
tered in.     I  poured  on  the  outside  three  times  300 
measures  of  asphalt,  and  three  times  300  measures 
of  asphalt  within.    Three  times   3600  men-porters 
brought  on  their  heads  the  chests  of  provisions.     I 
kept  3600  chests  for  the  nourishment  of  my  family, 
and  the  mariners   divided   among  themselves   3600 
chests.     For  provisions  I  had  slain  oxen ;  I  appointed 
rations  for  each  day.     In  (anticipation  of  the  need  of) 
drinks  of  barrels  and  of  wine  I  collected  a  quantity, 
like  to  the  waters  of  a  river ;  of  provisions  in  quantity 
like  to  the  dust  of  the  earth. 

"  All  that  I  possessed  I  gathered  together  ;  of  silver, 


tU 


THE  DELUGE  OR  THE  FLOOD.      239 

of  gold,  of  the  substance  of  life  of  every  kind.  I  made 
my  wrvanti.  male  and  female,  the  cattle  of  the  fields, 
the  wild  beasts  of  the  plains,  and  the  sons  of  the 

'^f^f t  *'J  1**'*'"**  '"^°  ^^^  «^'P-  Shamus  (the  sun- 
god)  fixed  the  moment,  and  he  announced  it  in  these 
terms:  In  the  evening  I  will  cause  it  to  rain  abun- 
dantly from  heaven  !  Enter  into  the  vessel  and  close 
the  door.  .When  the  evening  of  the  day  arrived 
I  was  afraid.     I  entered  into  my  vessel,  and  shut  my 

■^u'u'lu   ^'?*^"  confided  to  the  pilot  this  dwelling 
with  all  that  it  contained.  ^ 

"  Musheri-nid-namari «  rose  from  the  foundations 
of  heaven  m  a  black  cloud;  Ramman  (god  of 
thunder)  thundered  in  the  midst  of  the  cloud.   Nabon 

InA  fK.""!*  •'"*''*'£*'''  ^';^?'^  devastating  the  mountain 
and  the  plain.     Nergal  (god  of  war  and  death)  the 

f?url  ?i^^^**!r  chastisements  after  him.  Adar 
Cthe  Chaldean  Hercules)  advanced  overthrowing 
before  him.  The  archangels  of  the  abyss  brounht 
destruction     By  their  terrors  they  agitated  the  earth. 

J.^h^  °^/lT*"  '^f"^*^  "P  *°  *h«  ''^y-and  the 
earth  grown  dark  became  like  a  desert.  They  destroyed 
the  living  beings  on  the  surface  of  the  earth.  The 
terrible  Deluge  swelled  up  towards  heaven.  The 
brother  no  longer  saw  his  brother:  men  no  longer 
knew  each  other.  In  heaven  the  gods  became  afraid 
of  the  water-spouts,   and  sought    a   refuge:    thev 

rJIHi  /P.*°  ^^-  ^f*'''"  °^  ^""•''  The  gods  were 
stretched  out  motionless,  pressing  one  against  another 
hke  dogs.  Ishtar  wailed  like  a  child;  and  the  great 
goddess  pronounced  this  discourse:  Here  is  mankind 
returned  into  earth;  and  theirs  is  the  misfortune  I 
m«»K  *"°°"""''  in  presence  of  the  gods.  I  am  the 
mother  who  gave  birth  to  men,  and  there  they  are. 
filling  the  sea  like  a  race  of  fishes;  and  the  gods  on 

>  The  rain  ttorm. 
K.i^-3if  uV^^  "'.. "".  ?°^  '"  *••»«  narrative  showed  that  thev 

»  The  upper  region  of  the  fixed  ttara. 


lii 


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240    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

the  wSer^SDourfn'H'r*^/^  many  nights;  the  wind. 
s?renrtr  At  Jh^i?''  ^f '"g/'-^m  were  in  all  thei; 
^.iT!!r      •         *"*  approach  of  the  seventh  dav  the 
whXi!l?  K^'*^^  ^"ker- the  terrible  watet^spoute 
which  had  been  awful  as  an  earthquake,  grew  ca?m' 
the  sea  began  to  dry  up  and  the  wind  and^e  wate?-' 
spout  came  to  an  end.    I  looked  at  the  sea  attenTfvX 
observing,  and  the  whole  race  of  men  had  SS 
to  earth ;  the  corpses  floated  like  se^weeS     ToS 
the  wmdow,  and  the  light  smote  on  my  face     I  i2 
seized  with  sa,?ness;  I  sat  down  and  wept  and  The 
tears  came  over  my  face.  ^  '  *"* 

fhll  'T^***^  ^'  ^^^  '■^S'O"^  bounding  the  sea.  towards 
land  to  h  P°'"''  °U^^  ^°"^°"'  but  there  w^  no 
S  S  M^  '^^'"L    ^^^  ^^^^^1  **s  borne  above  the 

Vessel  L^d"H.?H'  *^:  "^°"'^'"!"^  °^  Nizer  arrested  Se 
vessel  and  d.d  not  permit  it  to  pass  over.     For  six 

i?  S*"?  *^t',  '*°PP^^  '■*•    At  the  approach  of  the 

went  ?u?nTd'  ^°Tf  *".^  ^^"'  °"*  ^  d°^«-  The  dov^ 
went,  turned,  and  found  no  place  to  light  on   and 

went'  ttned  anST'd'""'  "^°"*  ^  -^^'w  °"a'„d"' 
back     nni^     5°*^'"^  "*"  P'**=*=  *°  hghton.came 
back.    I  loosed  and  sent  out  a  raven ;  the  raveA  wMt 
and  saw  Oie  corpses  on  the  waterJ,   it  ate   rerted 
turned,  and  came  not  back.  ' 

tJ.'^i'^tu  *^"'  °"*  (**»«  creatures   in  the  vesseH 

aSlhe'^n" /°"r  ^'"?'  ""^  °^^^^^  ^  sacriJcT  I 
raised  the  pile  of  my  burnt  offerings  on  the  peak  of 

te  sSs°""S"'h  2^."^^^"^"  '  '^'d  *he  m?Lured 

and  iuniner      TU^^^^  I   'P'^*^    •■"^^««'  "^^r    ^Ood. 

ft-  Zh^fK  The  gods  were  seized  with  a  desire  of 
1  ke'fl  e^  ^Ko  "'"lu^"*  '^"''■^  °^  ''•  *«y  assembled 
afar  in  /n«  l-**"^  J"^'*"  °^  ^^^^  ^^^rifice.  From 
afar  in  approaching  the  great  goddess  (Ishtar)  raised 
the  great  zones  (the  rainbow)  that  Ani  made  fo?  Se 


EJ. 


THE  DELUGE  OR  THE  FLOOD.      .4, 

''^^yi^:^^^^^^^  '-ijo-  as  c^sta,. 

might  never  leave  them^  Let  \l  ^^'^^^^  '^^'  ^ 
my  sacrificial  pile  I  Zl  „-  *"^  ^[ods  come  to 
it.  for  he  did  not  masfer  Self  T^.  ?"'  *=°'"^  '<> 
water-spout  for  the  dSuL  "^n  J  V''"!  ^^^  "'^'^^  the 
men  for  the  pit.  ^  '  ^"'^  ^^  ^^s  numbered 

"  From  afar  when  drawing  n*.ar  R«i 
and  stopped.     He  was  fill^n     •![  ^^^  ^^^  the  vessel 
gods,  ai^d^gainst  thTheive„intr^'V^^'"«*  the 
shall  come  out  alive  said  h.^   ^^"^^''-    ^o  one 
served  from  the  abys^lJ^  '  "°  ""*"  ^^all  be  pre- 
spake-he  saTd  to    he  warrL^Sf?^  J'^ '"^"^^nd 
Ea  should  have  formed  tWs  r/J^ ^  «^ho  other  than 
sesses  knowledge  and  h^l    resolution;  for  Ea  pos- 
his  mouth  and  spake     he  fZT'X  ^"-    ^^  ^P^^ed 
thou  herald  of  the  arSit  .*°  ^^^  "'^'•"or  Bel,  O 

-aster  thyself  ttu^ht  mSr  the  *'?  ''^^*  ^^ 
the  deluee.     I  ft  fK»    •  ^  the  water-spout  of 

Please  thyself  with  thfranlJ^  i         ^'^  blasphemy, 
never  be  infringed ;   faith^T„^-P'Tr'  ^"'^  ''  «ball 
lated.    Instead  of  thy  mak  "       '^^"  J'^^^'"  ^^^  ^io- 
and  hyenas  appear   aLrMn^  ^.u"*"^  ^''°^'  '«t  hons 
let  there  be  faS  TnA  ^^T  *^  ""^ber  of  men • 
let  Dibbara   (ThT'goS   of  eSf/''^\''^  devastated; 
let  men  be  mown  down      JP^^"'"'")    ^PPear.   and 
decision  of  the  grea?  g^ds-  k^f  S-^'.  "'''^^^'^  the 
terpreted  a  dream  anH^«         l^  Khasiastra  who  in- 
had  decided  '  *"**  <=°mprehended  what  the  gods 

m^n^t:  Ir'rSted  Sef  ^nt^  h'^?*^°^  '""^  --"^nt  of 
took  my  hand  and  made  mf?''  '"*?,*^^  ^^«««J.  and 
nse  and  place  herseffy  "  J^    5*^  '"^^^  '"X  ^'fc 
"s  and  stopped  short      hI  "^  ^^'ked  around 

Until  now.  he  saiH  iJ^  •  ^PP^-oached  our  grouo 
now  he  and  Ws'wiff  aS'loiL'?  'k^^"  "'^^-"bS 
to  live  like  the  gods    andT^  -n  r^  "'""^d  away 

n'outh  of  the  rivis.''  TW  carried  '^^  '^''  ''  '^^ 

"7  carried  me  away,  and 


I  ! 


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242    THE   SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 
thTs^iSm.'"'  '"  *  ''^'"^^^  P^-*^  at  the  mouth  of 

As  will  be  seen  o^  ts  surft?^-/*'''  Accadian  tablets, 
cal  narrative  in  itsJenerafe      '^"^""^^^^  the  Bibli- 

from  it  in  several  ^T£' deuT'a^nH  T'*^'^ 
regards  its  polytheistic  Lt„r«'  t  1  especially  as 
wickedness  of  J^en  b'ouS?^  .  '"•  ^'^^^  ^^"  t^* 
In  both  cases  thTsamrcotLS?ol;°-,H"P^^  f^^™' 
given,  in  order  that  a  re^Tn.  •  u^"!.'*'  *"  ^'''^  "^^s 
Genesis  the  proportion  ofTh.  ??*''  ^^  ^^''^^-  ^n 
the  tablets  a^s  tK  on/  Vtll "'  '"'^  *°  °"e' '" 
tame  animals  clean  »„  J        , "  ^^^  ""^^^  ^ild  and 

ark,  whicrw;s  ^de  wat"e"rlL^^^^^  ^"'  '^^^^  '"  '^' 
pitch,  and  in  thfe  other  ^J^K-f'  '"  °t"^  "^^  *»* 
the  ark  rested  on  «n^     *   *"'"^"'     ^"  ^oth  cases, 

loose  for  the  purpose  of";Sl"^  •  "'^  '^^^^  ^^"^  '«* 
had  disappeared  ^  In  botwTu"^  '^  ^'^^  ^^t^" 
a  sacrificfof  thankseiv^^^^^^^  '""^'^^^^  °ffe^ 

then  an  assurance, Wsn?n?/i*'''  ^'*^,^P^=  ^^'^  « 

appearance.     Preciselv  in  fk-.  ^"'  "a'^e  t^e'«* 

stoVy  of  the  DeE  ho      ^^  ^^'"^  ^a^'  *e  tablet 

facts  in  the  case     A?  IL  1        fPPOsjtion  to  the  true 
Accadian  tradSon^;^^ ^f  '^^^''^^  '^'  ^^*^"^  °f  ^he 


THE  DELUGE  OR  THE  FLOOD.   .,, 

appeVs" rSj!;^  C  ^;,thf  '^'''^'  --^^  -Hich  he 
narrative  accordingly  of  Zfe   ""^<=q"ainted.     m^ 
the  Babylonian  trSiti^  Jur^et^-  °{!i>'  ''"bodVed 
which  were  merely  the  nLf  5    "^  '"  ^'^   own  dav 
Tablet  story.     Chey„e  ?"*f  *  «=h°«  of  the  remote 
article,  in  hi^'EnSniV/^^^^^     ^  °'"  his  DeWe 
hsh  the  fact  that  fifbyTo^fa^S^t''^-^^^^^  -"af! 
the  Flood  story,  and  that  it  naS^       °T"^^  P'a^e  of 
of  heavy  local  rains,  and  Ln  acf.  ""T  ^-^"^  ^  P^"°d 
of  the  sea  from  the  Persian  Cut     '^T'^S  overflow 
and  that  the  nature-mjSwLhK^  ^     *^^  lowlands; 
arose  from  these  and  o£r  r.^  considers  it  to  be 
perhaps  might  stand  as  one  exnir?"  "^^  '''    This 
story,  so  far  as  Babylon"a  S  ?    *'°"  ""^^^^  ^el"ge 
could  not  possibly  have  In  '^^^'^^as  concerned,  but 
tions  of  the  Delu'^eXlicToJfvP  •.'".*•>  *°  '^'  t^adi- 
tries,  not  only  of  the  O^d  wi^^^'^u '^**  '"  °ther  coun- 
which  never  could  have  YS"^**  ''"'•^'^^  °f  the  Ne"v 
Babylonia.     Cheyne's  ooln"      ?">'  intercourse  w1  h 
rests  on  no  prorof%°P;"'k°-;;/  P"-^^  ^P^^^'atT^^ 
of  no  value  whatever     We  n„nf  1 ''  accordingly 
poor  shifts,  to  discredit  the  BIK  •   '    *°  'h°«^  ^^at 
Higher  Critics  have  to  resorf  *      ""^^  "^'■'■^"v*'  the 
best  possible   conclusion  to  tW,^'.*""'^'    ^'  »»>' 
now  proceed   to  give  a  hriJ  I-  .^^^^P*"    ^^   will 
the  evente  which  fed   up  to  the"?"'"'  '^^'""^  °f 
^^'   —tal^JcorJs^  otr^^LlL^ 

-dVrty' .^£"°^^^^^^^^  of  Persia 

rums  of  the  ancient  city  of  pr^ll?^'!;^  ^tand  the 
the  powerful  Achffim«.n;L  n     ^P°''S'  the  capital  of 
sons  of  Cyrus  ST.iir'^''  \^'*=^  '"  the  pe° 
once  ruled  th^  EaSn  3  ""4?*^^^  great  kiSgs, 
with  the  murder  of  DTririn    '     i'  "^^""''^  ^"^^^ 


:  I! 


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244    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

to  impress  the  facts  more  forcibly  upon  the  minds  of 
the  people  of  the  Persian  Empire.  tLt  he  hTcomf 
pletely  conquered  them,  and  was  now  their  real  ruler, 
the  capital  was  first  plundered,  then  burned  down 
tin!  5-  '''*"^"!,  I"^''*"^^-    The  numerous  inscrip- 

eXlnr''''f  ^^  ''^''^^T'  '■"  '^^  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries,  amid  the  ruins  of  Persepolis 

curlosftv  in'p'  '"  *^''!i  "^'g^^^ourhood,  awoke  Such 
curiosity  in  Europe,  and  many  guesses  as  to  what  thev 
might  record,     fn  the  latte?  half  of  the  eTghVeenth 

by  the  finding  of  baked  bricks  and  cylinders  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  Lower  Euphrates,  on  wh  ch 
there  was  writing  similar  to  that  at  Persepdis.    Thise 

Iv  nHorS  *  F  'V"  <^^Ploration  of^the  coum?J 

lying  along  the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris,  by  French 

xienusts,  who  located  the  sites  of  BabyloA  and  JfTne- 

hnVtf  "*  S'^"^*"*.  home  with  them  to  Paris  inscribed 

te"est   Ith^  '"k '"  '"^'''^  ^"""^^  ""*=»»  g«"«^^l  in- 
terest   Although  no  one  could  read  the  writine  it 

was  now  fully  realised  that  it  gave  the  his  oJl  of 
some  ancient  Chaldean  people.  In  STglS  2pe- 
tTtt  Jri'  '"'"'^  ".^""'"^  ^"^'  curiosi^.^hich  Kl 
Orient  I.^  n^^T^"^  '^'^^"2  °i  ^^P^o^ation  in  the 
Urient  In  October,  1797,  the  East  India  Company, 
of  London,  instructed  its  agent  at  the  city  of  S 

Sb^S  br-f '  ^"/•'^l'  *°  ^^^^  -  search  Vadef^ 
inscribed  bricks  and  other  antiquities,  to  pack  them 
carefully  when  procured,  and  fo'rward  them  to  En^ 

he  F««?f  ^- "  L^°'  ^^  £•■'*  ^^^  °^  these  arrived  ft 
the  East  India  House.  The  key  to  the  ancient  Per- 
sian inscriptions  at  Persepolis  wi  discovered  a  few 

Pher  the'sXt'  ?"^-''  ^?^  ."°^  determined  to  decJ^ 
bv  thl  P  ^°"i*"  inscriptions  also.  A  little  book 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  Hagar  of  London,  on  these 
awoff  nhr*  «- PJ-t«  °f  the  bricks  arid  ;abLts! 
InAZ:  \*5^  meantime,  great  interest  in  England 
and  attracted  the  attention  of  C.  J.  Rich,  a  writer  in 
the  service  of  the  East  India  Company  at  Bombay! 


THE  DELUGE  OR  THE  FLOOD.   245 

SJenty^Jor^el?^^^^^^^^^  -^  ^^f'  -hen  only 

the  company  aJ  Bagdad  In  ?«°;"*'.'^  to  represent 
ruins  of  Babylon  "nd  felt.mo  i  5*"  '"^'*<^*^  t^e 
tent  Ten  days  kftemards  he  hl*^  **''''"  ?*="'  *^^- 
ggging  into  Siose'S^SS'ptkairfnd'T"? 
H.s  discoveries  althoueh  not  InroS  „  °  ^'^°^«'- 

and  formed  the  coSncerJen^of  .^ ''^T  ^^"^'»'^' 
tablet  treasures  of  th?BrS  M  *^^  archaological 
Persepolis  in  1821  in  ornil .    ^"se«im.     Rich  visited 

and  oS  his  return  fell  a  v?ct°^?^ 

done  in  the  way  of  furi         °  f^"^^''^    ^'"'e  was 

ensuing  t.1  Sdl'^'^J^JgS^e'F^en'H"""^  '""^ 
ment  established  a  vice-consu£<,?f  iJf^  ^°^""- 
potamia.  and  appointedlsd^ntist  P^° «  ' '"  ^"°- 
post;  while,  at  the  s!me  Z^Tm±  f^t^'  *?  ^he 
propriation  for  arch«oIogicd  r^  eaTj£s  io?"^  "P" 
made  important  discoveries  arKhorsabad      A  '°°" 

JiireroTJ^taE  aLT^cw'^"^'^- ^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
arrived  in  Parish  ^DlceS>e;r^^^^^^^^      "^'^^  ^^^^^ 

-toScal  S"n2:  "tn'sratTeT  "^  *^^  -^■ 
termined  to  seek  his  fcS,',^!  •  V^^l  °^  ^2'  ^^  de- 
following  yeardrifted  n  o"  Wesler^fe  W""  l""' 
at  Mosu  curiously  exam.W  «.!  "^^i*'  ^"^  when 

posite  bank  o^Ae  Ss  1?/^  ^°""**'  °."  ^'^^  °P- 
to  continue  his  excavrtLs    h/  '^"^°"»?S'ng  Botta 

Constantinople,  and  w^^'TeVe  IpSei"/*^'  '"^ 
on  the  staff  of  the  British  amL^^'^o.  *®  *  Post 
Canning.  afterwa4  U  S  T  Sfff'  Sir  Stratford 
deep  interest  in  his  account  n?*?^'"'  '^''°  '"^'^  » 
ruins  in  ancient  A.s,vS    o  /    *^  F^*'  "bounds  of 

to  help  futurLte^n'if;:^';^^,,^^  <^^<->) 

more  among  his  personal  frf^n^r/^l^^^  ^*  '""^^^ 
to  Mosul.  He  soon  dua  H^  ••  *"*^.*«"  '■^turned 
Nineveh  palacToT  sSflmtTse^?  *S-  '"'"'  i  ^^'^ 
great  winged  lions  which  had  guarLl?'°o^'f  *^1 
numerous  other  antiquities,  wS'c'r  Sr^T^'grTat 


(.i. 


1 1 


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246    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

sensation  in  London  on  their  arrival  there  He 
speedUy  became  famous  all  over  Europe  !sk  sic! 

fhfn!''?^°'^''  ^^  ^^  ''°°"  =«ded  b/ grant,  from 
theB„t.sh  government.  Among  some  of  his  earS 
discoveries  was  the  site  of  the  city  of  Asshur.  the 

I^" in^°/.ot^''^"t!!,^J."S'°'"  ^""*^«^  t°  '"Gene! 
SIS     in  1849  he  resumed  his  explorations  at  Nineveh 
and  discovered  the  remains  of  the  great  palace  of 

for  the  British  Museum,  while  thousands  of  tablets 

c:s7m:?Vi\^'  "V*^-    ^y^'"^  "^«  the  mosrsuc! 
cessful  of  all  the  explorers  in  those  regions,  and  the 

result  of  his  researches  far  exceeded  those  of  Botta! 
«HH^«  "^.°^u^''  successors  in  the  same  field,  and.  in 
^tlfV°A''  '""."''  *^  admirably  writtek  narVa- 
fave  of  his  discoveries  made  him  famous.  In  i8q^ 
he  was  appointed  to  an  important  diplomatic  position 
at  Constantinople,  and  eventually  became  the^fiSS 
WH  ""  tk'  '^"''  ^"^  '■"'=^'^^d  the  honour  of  knight- 
hood    The  next  great  English  explorer  in  the  East 

rAfeml':""T'  "^°^^*^  dis^nguished  Lseff 
m  Afghanistan,  and  was  an  ardent  oriental  scholar 
and  antiquarian.    In  the  fall  of  1843  he  secured  the 

Jnf  S;Lm- K":?^tP°''f^^^^  ^^^"*  in^urkTsh  A?ab?a! 
and  established  himself  at  Bagdad.  Shortly  after- 
wards an  Assyrian  ..xravation  fund  was  SsS^Tn 
England;  and  systematic  explorations.  dScJe^bC 
the  nT'?";  "°!![  commenced,  and  were  continued  for 
l^L^f  u  ^  V^  ''^'y  S^^at  """"Its.     His  lieu- 

tenant HormuzdRassam.  an  educated  Syrian,  dis- 

S  V?  M^T""^  ^u"  ^•■"^*  P^'^^«  °f  Assurbanipal, 
which  yielded  up  rich  archaeological  treasures.  ^In 
the  library  were  found  a  large  number  of  tablets 
among  which  were  both  Creation  and  Deluge  tablets! 
Meanwhile  the  efforts  of  oriental  scholars^  in  EnS 
land.  1;  ranee,  and  Germany  were  turned  to  the  woric 
of  decipherment,  and  important  rest  Its,  in  that  direc- 
tion were  gradually  but  surely  achieved.  Foremost 
m  this  field  were  Sir  Heniy  Rawlinson.  and  the  Rev 


THE  DELUGE  OR  THE  FLOOD.   247 

Sr;adl'"i  ?"  l'^'^  jJefgy^an.  The  latter  had 
already  gone  far  beyond  the  point  of  euessine  like 
Grotefend.  at  the  meaning  of  tablet  sentences  and 
was  now  engaged  in  building  up  a  grammar  of  the 
A^y"^  language.  The  tabllts  were^atTenih  yield! 
ing  up  their  treasures,  but  as  yet  in  an  imDeVfer;Tn^ 

^Z\  ^'^*=h*°J°gy  was  formed  in   London,   and  at 
AmJ^f  ^  ^'■'t*  '•"P"'^^  *°  Assyriologica   studies. 
DTfArfZTr'"  ""V  Gladstone,  Rawlinson.  Rev 
Iv^hl7^r.^^  ^^'^^'    The  latter,  when  quite 
Lh  k!.;    ^  ^'^'Je  learning  the  trade  of  an  engraver 
had  become  greatly  interested  in  archaologicS  disl 
covery.  as  ,t  affected  Biblical  history,  and  JesolvS 

mislio?  to  ,?5'"^  *°  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson  for  per: 
bSV  "^^^'y  some  of  the  inscriptions  in  the 
British  Museum,  which  was  promptly  accorded      His 

rnscS„"''f'S'1'^"'  he^presUy  diWe^ed  an 
I?fni%  T    ^  Shalmaneser  which  stated  that  Jehu 
fcn^'"*'''''^1.P^'^  ^•'"  »»•«  "S"al  tribute      Raw-' 

he  requTsted°tr  T  '''r''  ^Z  ?'^  circumstance,  that 
Smjfi?  t  •  ^^^  Trustees  of  the  Museum  to  employ 
Smith,  as  his  assistant  in  the  Assyrian  departmenr 

a  wo„dTrf..?°l-,(^'^7^^  ?*t  y°""g  -an  dS^^d' 
educadoJal  det!°'  ^^^'Pherment.  and  despite  his 
poraries  Tn  th/r?  '°°"  surpassed  all  his  contem- 
^ZVT  o  *"''*  department  of  knowledge.  From 
1867  to  1871  one  important  discovery  affer  anothS 
was  made  by  him.  in  the  tablet  literature  thatXed 
n^aS  5"  -^l"^?-     ^'  «"*=*=^s«f"l  work,  in  aS 

nfcrtotlonrV^^J"^  *^"  """""^"^  t^b'^'  ^"d  othfr 
mscnptions,  found  m  the  ruins  of  the  palace  of  As- 

These"Tntrr  ''°"'  ^"^"'^"^  *°  make^hi'm  famou  . 
monlrril  '^*'°"'  contained  full  accounts  of  that 
Sin  """'?'-°"s  '""•'tary  campaigns,  and  of  his 
inclui.5  ?f '•^t.ons.  which  were  on  a  vast  scale,  and 

wS  at  Nin^f "'?°"  f  ^  niagnificent  palace  for 
nimself  at  Nineveh.    In  1872  Smith  made  the  most 


I  '• 


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MS 


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I  ; 


348    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE, 
wonderful  of  all  his  discoveries  hitherto.    While  work- 

t"^*l  '''''*7  ^y  ^"«"''  h«  picked   up  one  ii 
which  he  read  unmistakable  parallels  to  the  Biblicd 

irS^  ^J  '^'  .^''"«'=-  '^^  "«^  of  this  Si^ove.5^ 
created  a  great  sensation;  and  the  British  eoverS- 
ment  was  now  strongly  urged  to  send  out  a  new  expe- 
dition to  recover  the  missing  fragments.  While  it 
was  considering  the  matter,  fhe  L^don  DaHy  Tele- 
graph  offered  to  give  a  thousand  guineas  for  the 
purpose,  on  the  condition  that  Smith  should  head 
the  expeditipn,  and  write  accounts  of  his  progress 

Sm  th  ,r!!P*Pr  '^''  P''°Po«tion  was  a^cefted. 
Smith  shortly  afterwards  proceeded  to  the  Nineveh 
ruins,  and  was  fortunate  in  soon  finding  the  m?ssInS 

fct/^5,'''^'"^^  '''''''  •"  theVssurb  npa! 
m/nt^h/H  K  '°  *i*  'T''  J^^'"  ^h«^«=  *e  first  frL- 
ment  had  been  found  a  few  years  before,  and  then 
returned  home  with  these  and  some  other  Litiquities 

?  wIk^  "^fl^  inscriptions  of  Esarhaddon.  Sen! 
no.herib.  and  Assurbanipal.     In  November.   1873. 

ffth^B!S,h^lS"  '''"*  °"V°  **^*  ^y  "^^  Trustees 
^rSli-^  Museum,  and  recovered  many  interesting 

«rHf  «°K??''^  u-*^'"*'"''  *»"*  "°thi"g  startling  as  re? 
gards  Biblical  history.    In  March.  T876,  he  was  once 

S-°iV°  ^^.^'r*  ^''^  of  discoveor.  but VesenUy  fell  m 
of  fever  at  Aleppo,  and  died  there  in  August,  a  martyr 
EnSLnT     "«d<^tth  caused  the  deepest  sorTowS 

as  a  prophet,  and  was  much  regretted  also  in  Ger- 
many and  France  Numerous  expeditioris  have  since 
been  organised  for  the  purpose  of  antiquarian  dis- 
covery m  various  parts  of  the  East,  and  i  a  result  a 
flood  of  new  light  has  been  let  in  upon  its  Mcie„? 
history.  Even  the  United  States  have,  ofTecent 
yeara  sent  out  several  expeditions,  with  the  same 
object  in  view,  which  have  been  more  or  less  success- 
ful.    The  antiquarian  department  of  the  Pennsylvania 


THE  DELUGE  OR  THE  FLOOD      249 


i.  M 

1):   I  I 

■'I  J 

i  Mi 


("'  i 
.  J 


li 


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■il 

■•i  ^1 


ilW 


CHAPTER  XII. 

FROM  THE  DELUGE  TO  ABRAHAM. 

S^Dduge'  roulTe  «*"'"*'  immediately  following 

necessary  for  u,  to  I '  *^®"**""»  *"  that  is  really 
deali„g7wiSr prL  SveZnwL'°  ^i'  P-^'dcntS 
of  the  world.    Th^lZ^l^riod^^^^^ 
in  the  ark  had  at  lenSh  caZ\      ^T^""  residence 
landsmen,  he  had  no^ouSfrtn     V^V^'    ^'^^  «» 
being  tossed  about  on  the  trSu">  1°"^"^'  "'»'"« 
his  feet  firmly  once  mo      on  mnfh,'*^**''!'  *°  P'**^« 
wish  was  now  to  L  LtifiSd      *  rT"?'.*"**  *>'» 
unto  Noah,  saying    Go  forth  Af  I"^""* ,  ^^  »P«ke 
thy  wife,  and  thy  Ls  anH^h„     *^'  ?'''•  thou  and 
Bring  forth  withVhee  ;;e.t  l^nr.t^'^'l^'»^  *hee. 
thee,  of  all  Aesh.  both  "oftt^^ni'^i^ca^  "  ^''^ 
thTtheyX^  ^  It^Sr  ^T^^^^^^ 

coUi;d''an'd\to''od'up'on  Z'5  °  W  *^^^^-^- 
his  terrible  marine  experienc^,  "^T  ^*"^  again,  after 
months'  duratioi      The  ^«e '    ll°h  """"^^  ^^-^^ 
covered  the  face  of  the  earS,5fi5     i,  ?  i.°   ""^""tly 
the  rivers  again  flowert?atru3lv^^  fc^^'PP^^'*^^' 
courses.    A  boundless  llnE^    r  *^5"'  appointed 
tain.  foresCand  Sfe  mJ  K-P^  °^  '^'"Sled  moun- 
tion.  as  he  gazed  Cd  f^om  t !  7*  'V^'^^'^  d'^^<=- 
Mount  Ararat,  on  Xch X  unHoTi  P°^'*'°"  °" 
down  in  oriental  spfeSSoi^.^   Th^s^ne^-wV^er 


FROM  THE  DELUGE  TO  ABRAHAM.  ,3. 

yfc"„U?l„r^^^^^^^  nature  .ec.cd  to 

The  terrific  itorm  of  recfnt  dav-      *^"*'  «i,tcnce. 
the  PMt.    The  open  nlZVc/of'ZT  *  '^^"^  «' 
no  longer  permitted  cscapW  torrL?.    1°'"'^.''  ^**^«" 
acend  upon  the  earth     TillLut  '^^l  °^  '*'"  »<>  de- 
to  lluminate.  withVt^lurL  alife^'»^»"f 'i  ''*^  ""'^d 
which  had  swept  hither  Sy/K*!  ^^^  ""^^^  below, 
•tructive  force.    All  na/.        ^^^^^^'  ^'^h  such  dc 
itself;   and  lSo.l^' S^^'^r^J^^  ^' P-^cc  iitt 
gratitude  to  his  Heaven?y  pXr  f   ''fu  ''"''"***  *'* 
change  which  had  taken  ni»l      '^L  ^'l*  marvellous 
deliverance  from  imminent  5l„'  *"**  *^*^  wonderful 
and  his  family.    0^0"  his  f^t  ^°"<=hsafed  to  him 
was  to  build  an  alter  unto  »k     t  '"'}^'  ««ordingIy, 
offered  a  thanksgiv't  bu"  „t  trt'"^'  ?"  ^'»'<=h  he 
beast  and  ever;  clea^n  fowl     hu^"  ""^.^^'y  <^'««n 
cepted.  "And  the  Lo?d i^d  in^l/u""^",  *^^  ^c- 
again  curse  the  ground  mv  mo     ^'"'  '  ^•"  n°t 
neither  will  I  agaiK  smite  /„3^      °'^  '°'"  *"="'»  sake: 
as  I  have  done^    wS  JthT  e^art'J  ^^^'^.thing  living 
time  and  harvest,  and  cold  and  h.?.  '«T'"*'th,  seed- 
wmter.and  day  and  niiS?t  ,S2n      f'  ^"^  summer  and 
^«.  21,  22.)  ^?;om"'fhat  S:"  T^:^:    (Genesis 
promise  has  continued  in  full  ?or«  ^'/''^J  ^'■«'='°"» 
tinue  in  force  while  the  "r?h*'      "^  ^^'"  «ill  con- 
longer.    God's  language  cS     ""^'"^'n^th.  but  no 
earth  had  a  begiS^fng^:  ^1  afso  h?'  *''^*  ^'  '^' 
Genesis  ix.  i,  2;  we  ar«.  toU  *u     a^"*^*^  *"  end.     In 
and  his  sons   and  saTd  ^ntn  IJ"'  ^od  b,e,3ed  Noah 
multiply  and  replenSh  ?he VartT'  A^!.  \"'*f"'  «"d 
you  and  the  dread  of  you  shall  h;    '^"'^  *^*  '"^^^  ^f 
of  the  earth,  and  upon^eveJv  fow^  of  fif "  ^^^^^  ^cast 
that  moveth  upon  the  eart?  S  °^  *''''  f.'^'  "P°n  all 
of  the  sea:  into  your  handrL^h.  Tl'- ^"  the  fishes 
was  thus  constitutedX  his  fen'''?u''"*^''    ^an 
master  of  all  lower  animLd1ifr?-°u'  ?^  '"P'-^me 
forfeited  from  that  day  ^  th      '  n'j'''  ^^  \^  "^^^^ 
-s  Of  inventive  scienVe?  '^^  £^1  tlVn^l} 


¥ 


ill 


j'.H 


III 


aj^    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

former  period  of  hi.  exiTtence  *  *''*"  "*  '"^ 

el.bS;.r;od^"1,f"SivCCf^^^        '"•"^"'^  °^  •" 
mankind.    There  were  now  ?«lv    ^u.  '"^^^went  of 

world  -  four  tncnZdhurio^^'  ^'T^  '"  »^« 
servants  of  God.  whoie  f?.!.^,.    "*^  ~~  *"  devoted 
chiefly  guided  b^  the  dL;!i;'%'*'"*'"^*  ^"  to  be 
their  JlSdy  acVuireS  kSd«  21!!='*"^''  ""«*  »>>' 
right  and  wfong^    Ju.t  «  k  hid  ^L***!  ?":"<:«?'«•  of 
luvian  world,  man  iai  t"be  ial^"  '"  *''*  •"*«<*«- 
own  free-will,  and  hid  .ccoS^^i^^f  ""^'^^'^  °^  ^is 
problem  of  hi.  futCJe  S%*y*£ '^ef'*  ?"»«»« 
moral  and  religious  liehj  wh^^f^i..***^~'*  of  those 
first  had  Plant^  in  Su  b^i^Sj     G^'T""  "'  *^* 
mands  to  Noah  anH  ui  .J^^        "O"  •  "ew  com- 

in  number?  Md  of  the ^rirfir 'u'^^'^'-^^y' fc'*' 
wer«  forbidden  to  eat  blo«3*??*/^*«'*<«'-  They 
"Who«,sheddethmM'sb^HS'  '°  '=°?'"'*  ""'d"- 
be  shed,"  was  the  DMne  c^l^^5'"f*>*^'  ^«»  Wood 
in  order  to  removetj  in«J T""**'  ^^^  t^"  God. 
tion.  mad7a  co^eJf t  t^Si  NSr^i'C^"*"''*  <*l«"'C.' 
would  no  more  dMb^y  Se  e^Jh^^vt'*  !?"*  *^»t  ^e 
M  a  perpetual  tokwi  o?tW.  r!!l!^  """^t  *  ^'^i  wd. 
in thiclJud.    .: aS SVhJfi *=°^"*«t'  he  set  his  bow 

"when  I  bS^gallolid  ;t:?^reUhr':i'"^^  ^°^' 
rain)  that  the  bow  shall  h!«2.«  *^5'  ^V^'^  *=*"*«  i*  «<> 
will  remember  my  cove„MtThU"  •^^'k  'J"'"*-    ^nd  I 
you.  and  every  mngc!Stu^eJ^^  i'n^S*^^"  •"*=  «"** 
waters  shall  no  more  iSToml  »  a*"^^"**'  *"^  t^* 
flesh."    (GenesisT  ,4  Jo    rtf  *!.  ^^^^^^^  »»" 
rainbow  has  passed  froi  thi.  n?^   Mcredness  of  the 
the  religions'^^d  pSeS^*of  t^LT  J;?"!r'«tion  into 
the  anci?nt  and  mod^oridl     T^"^^  "**''°n»  o^ 
Jupiter  set  it  inX  cLd,  fSa  s^/n^^l'"^^^^ 
Persia  pictured  it  on  a  rock  wi>h  ?^*  J^^.^agi  of 
sitting  upon  it.  and  a  venerSk  m^'T^^*'*^''"^ 
prayer  beforeit.    T^»eIrisSte3ctasTrSn^^^ 


FROM  THE  DELUGE  TO  ABRAHAM.  ,53 

of  the  god.  to  iSk  heivTn  .„j;***'l*^  '*  «  «  bridgj 
n-tlon.  of  the  .ndem  S^ouX''-    ^'^ "»  «»hS 
t  in  their  polytheutic^J,  cm.    t"t""'^  P'*«  '°' 
the  contrary,  the  winJw  iT  ^r-n^    "*  ^"«»'"'  <"» 
•nd  .piritual.  in  iti  m^lL^Vl^y  "'<»nothe»»tic. 
fnend.h,p between 5>dMdma^„  til"  ^^l*  ^^^^^^^  °f 
of  Divine  grace  and  pit?  thTn^Ii!**^'***'"^  *«''«'> 
God',  prewrving  cafe  m  r^^al^H*^*"*'  a.surance  of 
Appearing  only  when  tu  ''^*'^«'»  terre.trial  thines 

finally  paf,enro7ghth^i„^*'"'.°f*^«  "«  ^Te 
•pccial  awurance  that  the  wlterC''!?"''-'  *^'°'i***'  '*  »  « 

£^"n  ^ut^d*iS5e^°'<^  -^'^  S 

W^L^etot^^^^^^^^ 

hu.bandman,  and  DlanhTn  J    ?  *'•  *****  *»«  became  a 
doubt  hi.pr;ct?cal  WledJ'J'^!'^'.'^^  ^h'*=h  „J 
long  before,  would  enabTehfm/o'''*'f  "'*"'."''  **=*l"''<^d 
most  prolific  grape-vine.     H?.  «°  **'^'J  *''*  "^"^  a"d 
•nd  exceedingly  fS!;.,5?    vmeyard  in  that  warm 
P-ape,  in  the^^oni"  oj^^frd'' v-l^  '*"i5°"^''^^  ^'th 
excess  of  the  wine  made  th/l/**'"'    "'  **"nlc  to 
qu?nce  of  this  ."n.Tsen>.  o?;*^^^  ""^'  '«  <=°'»«- 
which  caused  a  cuwe  to  r«t  ?.„''' V''^"**  «»"ed. 
posterity  forever.     Fro°  7hltT"  ^*"**"  '"^  his 
scendant.  of  Ham  through  h?      ^^^^  *°  t*""  the  de- 

from  their  breth^e^yofe  bIoo3""i?H  '?'  ''^P*"*^^' 
describes  the  human  fwi*'^'  *^*  Apostle  Paul 

xvii.  26)  by  e&gi?ar'^ond\55L^i'^"'^^^  <^^"' 
a  lower  sociolomcal  nian-.  .  "°'"ons,  have  occupied 

Noah  lived  35Tyea?safter"t?'A'^l''  of  human*^^ 
nothing  to  show  tha?  fnf     "^  *^^  ^«'"ge.     There  is 

days,  for  ?n  those  orhysC""^  ^^^l  P^**^^ '"  J^'' 

»  Hour,  with  the  Bible.  Vol.  I.  p.  ,78. 


■If  I 


Ml 


! 


I;!) 


Ml 


till 


m 


■I  •!. 


-   i': 

;      ■ 

■ 

■■    .■:! 

i 

■        1    i 
-       'f   ' 

;    ■   J   . 

3 

•i 

r  . 


254    THE   SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

descended  from  him.  At  first  sight  this  table  would 
seem  to  the  ordmary  reader  to  be  only  a  dry  genea- 
logical  catalogue.  But  as  will  be  seen,  from  I  pre- 
vious  chapter.!  when  we  come  to  examine  it  by  the 
light  of  recent  archaological  discovery  in  Bible  lands 
we  shall  at  once  realise  its  historical  value,  and  how 
clearly  it  spreads  out  before  us  the  rise  of  the  ancient 
nations  of  the  worid.  -"wicni 

The  Noachic  period  finally  terminated  with  the 
emigration  of  the  descendants  of  the  patriarch  to  the 
and  of  Shmar.  and  the  miraculous  confounding  of 
language  there.  A  great  gap  in  Biblical  history  now 
intervenes,  and  contmues  up  to  God's  call  to  Abra- 
ham. Of^the  history  of  the  worid  during  this  lone 
mterval  of  time  we  know  practically  nothing,  if  w? 

Arr?A-  ^  ^'f^S'V'^^'y.  ^^^^""^^  gJ""<^d  from  the 
Accadian  and  Babylonian  tablets.  The  historical 
sun  sets  upon  a  small  population,  not  larger  than 
that  of  a  fourth-class  city  of  the  present  day.  who 
are  worshippers  of  the  one  true  God.  It  rises  again, 
after  the  lapse  of  centuries,  upon  a  worid  with  a  large 
population,  numbering  about  200.000.000  souls,  «fi. 
vided  into  many  nations,  who  have  ceased  to  worship 
the  one  true  God.  worship  numerous  false  gods  in- 
stead, and  are  wholly  given  up  to  idolatrous  practices, 
the  most  debasing  superstitions,  and,  in  some  cases 

S.n  leTf  v"'  7^'^^  "."  ^'^g'"**^^  ^"""a"  nature 
Man  left  to  himself- to  the  guidance  of  that  natural 
law  which  finds  such  favour  with  the  modern  schoo 
of  agnostic  biology -had  developed  a  new  moral 
worid,  on  the  same  lines  precisely  as  that  which  had 
disappeared  before  the  Deluge.     But  still  God  -  the 

w\.  7fu  "°*  '^^''^^y  forgotten  by  mankind, 

and  here  and  there  a  few  faithful  believers,  like  the 
pnest-kmg  Melchisedek  of  Salem,  continued  to  wor- 
ship him.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Abraham 
was  among  these  worshippers,  which  formed  one 
great  reason  for  his  Divme  selection  as  the  ancestor 

*  Chap.  V. 


-■•:   i 


FROM  THE  DELUGE  TO  ABRAHAM.    255 

cod.  of  iS^^hc  L*al  a„T  !r  °'  '  *'°8"' 
of  mankind.  As  a  recoils  ^^^!'°"'  Eovernment 
state  of  thines   the  „^,u  ^- '?°.*'"1''""=  of  this 

necessary,  thSore   thT,       '      "• """  """olutely 
an?^genSoVo°f''.h''''i."'°''^'  '"  ^^^^  P^^^«t  day 

s-o£:s£«?S"Sr; 

ception  of  Eirvnt  airt«»  uZ  •  ^''  ^'*"  *"£  ex- 

either  open  or  esoterirTJ.K*  !  '  i"  ^"^  **=^°°I  of 
tion  of  only  onrtrue  rJ?  A.f'  *°  *^^  ^reat  concep- 
form  or  aiX^' Th^^LafureTthet^^^^^^^  '"  °"^ 
t  ons.  even  to  the  vert  best  ofltlalft^^  ""■ 

all  their  legends    all  th^l  ».U         ^^*;"' P°^'''y' 


:h', 

i  i 

"      J 

!| 


i 


■f      i 


\hm 


11 


256    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

literature,  which  has  come  down  to  us,  the  con- 
mSLv  "^""V'  startling  in  its  completeness  The 
midday  sunshme  of  truth  everywhere  dissipates  the 

^l^    ^^  ^"^  ?''*"  i*y'"«^  *"d  <^oings  of  scores  of 
mythological  gods  and  goddesses,  the  sSblime  record 
In  the  Begmning  God -one  true   God -the  sole 
Elohim.  the  sole  Jehovah,  confronts  us     We  have 
now  parallel  Biblical  and  heathen  '  tve7  of  the 

Creation  and  the  Flood,  but  always  Everywhere 

outin°KeH:r?h*'r"f*^P°^ 

out  m  bold  relief.    The  descendants  of  Abraham  had 

egitimately.  from  the  first,  only  one  God,  one  Lord  ' 
the  other  contemporary  nations  of  the  world  had 
gods  many  and  lords  many.     The  reason  for  tWs 
strange  supremacy  of  the  Hebrew  people  does  no? 
appear  upon  the  surface  of  their  existence     ThlJ 
were  not  shrewder  in  wit  than   he    neSour;     tZ 
people  of  Philistia.  of  Tyre,  of  Sidonffi  th;  dm! 
mercal  instinct  to  a  far  greater  extent     In  the  aJ^ 
and  sciences,  and  even  in  their  knowledge  of  wj? 
they  occupied  an    inferior  position.    Thf  Hebreil 
turl'tTu  'l'°  '«\'^^™«d,  less  given  to  refined  cS^ 
ture  and  literature  than  other  contemporaiy  nations 
Their  geographical  limits,  unless  for  a  bri^f  period 

2S;  mnl  f  ^  ^""^u  '*"P  °^  '^^*=°^st  country  about 
A^^       f  i°"^'  "^'^  ^"  ^^^'•^ge  width  of  80  miles 
And,  yet.  this  comparatively  insignificant  peoplT  a': 
quired  from  the  earliest  dawn  of  their  hi?toTand 
afterwards  maintained,  a  conception  of  the  o5^'  true 

fn°n  ''Tlt'^  ''"^u°"^  ^"  ="^'«"^  Parallel.  When  we 
approach  the  sober  consideration  of  all  these  wo^ 
derful  facts,  we  are  naturally  compelled  to  ask  from 
what  source  was  the  grand  Hebrew  conception  of  th? 
one  true  God  derived?    There  was.  as  we  have  al! 

from  AThence  it  could  proceed.  There  can  be  only 
one  answer  to  the  question.     The  finger  of  the  God 


FROM  THE  DELUGE  TO  ABRAHAM.  257 

conception.  begSpwi^H  aI  u^'^""  """'^-  That 
corner-ston^offiSf  ,r;''^3„^'2f,^^^  *^,»he  chief 
constituted  the  Old  Disl*"  .-^  the  prophets  which 
the  way  for  he  coming  of  Jh^M'  ^"^  *^'*=*»  P«^*=d 
Dispensation  of  mT  "y  and  L^r' wu""^  '^'  ^ew 
to  tak^  a  full  and  calm^u^ey  of  ^U  t^^°  T  *=°'"*^ 
and  r.::gious  issues  invol^/i„  S^e  "CafMo  Jr"^ 
ham,"  we  cannot  fail  tn  ^^J"  ^*"  *°  Abra- 

God's  gracious  purpose  as  re^dc  .T?  *=°'"PJ«ely. 

com4Vce:rtsr5rrstt^'^  "!'  *°  A^-j^- 

history.  Sacred  Sstorvh^r'TP^'"'  °^  P^°f«n<^ 
with  the  narrative  o  th7creatio'i''''$'.'r'"^""^ 
nations  of  the  world  knew  no. v  u^"*  ^^^  ^"<='ent 
Abraham;  they  were  stmK"H,^^°"'  ***«  *=^"  ^ 
date  from  wS  to  reckon  K  '^'*^°."*  ^"^  <=°"""on 
details  accord  Sglycom^^^^^  ^"^  *^''-  h'^^°"«^al 

tricable  confusion  and  nnc^  "^'"  ^^e  most  inex- 
which  would  enaWe"tnnir%l!°  'l'*"^"*  ^'^'neni 
sequence.  wTno^ro^tUt^'S'^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
certainty,  as  stated  in  our  chaotTron  rhr  reasonable 
2400  vears  n  r  tt,-..!  •     *^"apteron  Chronology,  that 

AtfaJranVeopll^irv^Tnerbv 

had  been  fbrdbh:  b^ougSt  un/.f  S*^  ^'"^'  ^'^  *='^'^'"s. 

single  ruler  knowra"  Sarin  Tn^^ 

the  old   nature  r^Llonof^S,.  A   ^^""^  ^'^  '"^'g" 

planted  by  a  state  cCj,     -S    ^<=<iad«ans  was  sup- 

iV  pantL^ofoT^oltndTodTesi?^^^^^^^^ 
ous  state-paid  priesthood.  Th°s  reS,!,  *  ""'"^'■■ 
appears  to  have  extended  itself  to  „-^uu^  movement 
tries,  where  it  wideS  the  swoe  o?  f'?^°"""S  *=°""- 
idolatrous  worship.  It  was  atimenf'""''  '^^'!'"^  °f 
quest,  when  might  was  rirfit  and  X  cI  "^^^  ^"^  *=°"- 
had  no  compunction  in  Sn^ir    *he  stronger  nations 

become  th^r  tSa"  vaS'"f„d' T'^^^^^T  ^° 
or  non-payment  of  trL^ Ss  vTsfte^b?  t^'lTsi 


-fM 


i:  '  ■'    i, 


miv 


•  .1l 


258    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


t 

f   i 


terrible  punishments  it  is  possible  to  conceive ;  a  hor- 
rible state  of  things  which  existed  through  all  the 
Pagan  centuries  of  the  world.     Still,  despite  the  dis- 
advantages resulting  from  this  unsatisfactory  situation, 
Babylonia  was  a  prosperous  and  fairly  well-populated 
country  long  before  the  time  of  Abraham,  and  large 
cities  had  arisen  in  every  direction  but  especially 
along  the  courses  of  the  great  rivers.     The  natural 
fertility  of  its  soil  was  stimulated  by  a  vast  system  of 
canal  irrigation,  chiefly  fed  by  the  Euphrates  and  the 
Tigris.     Some  of  these  canals  were  so  large  as  to  be 
dignified  with  the  name  of  river.     Among  these  was 
the  Chebar  Canal  which  in  some  places  was  as  broad 
as  the  Euphrates,  and  on  the  banks  of  which  numer- 
ous Hebrew  exiles  dwelt  and   prayed,  and  Ezekiel 
prophesied.     At  all  the  large  centres  of  population 
were  temples  of  great  size,  which  had  usually  a  high 
tower,  called  a  ziggurat,  for  purposes  of  astronomical 
and  astrological  observation.     These  temples,  as  well 
as  all  the  public  and  private  buildings  of  Babylonia, 
were  largely  constructed  of  sun-dried  bricks,  or  more 
correctly  speaking  adobes,  usually  from  twelve  to  fif- 
teen inches  square,  and  from  four  to  five  inches  thick. 
While  there  was  little  good  building  stone  to  be  found 
in  a  laige  part  of  Babylonia,  there  was  abundance  of 
excellent  brick  clay.     This  clay,  after  being  well 
mixed  and  tempered,  was  made  into  adobes,  which 
were  held  together,  while  being  moulded  by  the 
workmen,  by  means  of  chopped  straw,  and  afterwards 
dried   in  the  sun.    Clay,  made  thinner  with  water, 
bound  these  adobes  together  in  the  wall.    This  kind 
of  brick  was  rarely  burned  owing  to  the  scarcity  of 
firewood,  or  other  fuel,  in  eastern  countries  even  in 
that  early  day.     In  later  periods,  down  to  the  present 
time,  jungle  grass,  and  even  the  dried  dung  o*"  herbiv- 
ora,  were  and  are  still  largely  used  for  fuel  in   the 
warmer  regions  of  the  world.    The  adobe  blocks  were 
the  description  of  bricks  which  the  children  of  Israel 
had  to  make  for  Pharaoh,  as  shown  on  the  wall-draw- 


FROM  THE  DELUGE  TO  ABRAHAM.    259 
ings  at  Thebes.    Having  no  need  of  preservinc  straw 
Se  3"  th'/p  ^*^  r'''^"  °^  '^'  ^^'  fully  IStilied 
gram  off,  and  left  the  high  stubble  behind  in  the 
fields,  where  Pharaoh  compelled  the  Hebrew  brick! 
makers  to  gather  it  for  themselves.     "  You  canSot 
ma..e  bncks  without  straw  "  is  a  veo'  ancient  proverb 
Adobes  are  to-day  largely  used  foTthe  consSon 
of  dwellings,  town  walls,  barracks  for  troops    and 
other  public  buildings  in  various  parts  orBritish 
India    and   more  or   less  in   all  extern  countries 
t^fLJ'^ff   IS  not  much  rain  they  last  for  a  C 
time,  and  afford  far  better  protection  against  the  hot 
rays  of  the  sun  than  either  stone  or  burnt  brick     The 
castles  of  Arab  chiefs  built  with  them,  are  sSll  met 
with  m  Asiatic  Turkey,  but  as  the  winters  there  and 
especially  in  what  was  once  Babylonia,  br  ng  muSh 

nec"es:a"rt"Adt'  k'T'  '"^"^"*  repairrLrme 
necessary      Adobe  bricks  entered  largely  into  the 

lTrl'T7°^  *""?P^"'  *='*y  "'^J'^'  and  buildings  of 
eveo^  kmd  in  ancient  times;  and  when  final  ruh, 
came  upon  these  structures  they  speedily  settled 
down  into  great  heaps  of  earth.  All^BabyL  a  and 
Assyria  are  covered  with  mounds,  large  and  smaU 
formed    m    this  way.      "And    Babylol"  said    the 

Efor&'"^'  "'^""  ^f  ^""^  ^^^P^'^  d«'elling! 
place  for  dragons,  an  astonishment  and  a  hissine  with- 

cl^VPl"^;?'"'''  ^r""''^  ^''  37-)    In  all  tKt  er 

we^e  flced"onT'  °    ^'^^V'""^''  '^'  ^^^^e  walls 
were  taced  on  the  outiide  with  stone  or  burnt  brick 
and.  m  the  case  of  dwel'.ngs,  lined  on  the  inside  wUh 

tureTr  M  *''"'  °^  ^'''  '^"^f^  '"  beautifully  sc2- 
SIh  h^  T  ^'  f"  ^^  quantities  of  which  were  reco?- 
Z)t^  Yr'"^  ^^'^  Rawlinson  from  the  ruins  of  the 
palaces  of  Sennacherib  and  Assurbanipal  at  Nineveh 

as  wellTs  S7'"  "7  ^^''^^'  *°  •■"''««  the  physSil 
worTd  L  wh  cS  ?h  "i  '"^  ""'J'^^"^  character  of  the 
world  m  which  Abraham  made  his  appearance  Nor 
was  .t  a  very  young  world  by  anyTeaS  "it  pos^ 


I  !1! 


.    1  1 


t'  ■ 


'I, 


I 


i-\ 


it. 


I 

;  in 


j6o    the  supremacy  OF  THE  BIBLE. 
'V^^^c^iST'di"  "f,  <^-.»<'  h"-"  being  ha, 

Et>sr,  jirB;  S^""  've'^  " "  s 


I'  ii. 


FROM  THE  DELUGE  TO  ABRAHAM.    .5. 

especidly^lectcdVc^rto^be  ?K^'r^j!^  ^«'  ^« 
chosen  people,  from  whom  th.  Q  *^'  ^^^i*''"  ^f  his 
should  com??  Some  wS.i*»\?*X'?"'  °f  mankind 
the  Eber  or  Heber The  S^^^^  that 

the  descendants  of  ihfmiZ'^^^^''''''^'  one  of 
was  the  ancestor  of  the  H^hS^"^**^"  ^^""is  x., 
established  itself  amid  t^e  .^o'"  T^'  ^^•*=''  ^^Sinally 

A^onrf^  nearThe'Lake'CSr "  tL^^"^'" 
Arphaxad,  according  to   Fu,Ji^  °"^"*^t.    The  name 

hold  of  the  ChSns^  n ^'  '"^^^the  strong- 
probably  of  some  aggressive  :;rd^t^   *^P'««"re 

Terah,  the  father  of  Ab^ir^  u  *=0"q"e"ng  race, 
head  of  his  tribe^migrate^i^^^^  *^"  '*•"&  °^ 

neighbourhood  of  tSv  of  Hr  ^}  ^«  P«^opIe  to  the 
line  of  the  Persian  Gn/r      ^^'^' ^'*"*t^*^  °"  the  coast 
River.     Thefe  he  seS  for  Z%  °^  ?*.  ^"Ph'-^*" 
a  friendly  community  if  t£^lteSl!;?'"g.  a'nong 
himself,  who  had  formed  an  t^t      "^'*"'  l)?^*'  *'*'> 
principality  of  their  own  anH^S^IP*'"*^*"'  Chaldean 
by  the  Assyrian  EmSeuntn  I?  ""^^  "°'  «>>«ofbed 
cherib,  about  sixteeJ^hundSL^^  '^i^""  °^  Senna- 
doubt  Terah  dwelt  in  th«    I  ^^f  ?  afterwards.     No 
in  tents  in  the  outs  "de  I ""^  ""^"l  ^»  t"b«  dwelt 
their  vast  flocks  and  herds   an'S'th"^  ^^l^  uP^^*"^^^ 
born  2211  years  B  %    Vr'.T.t  ?<=«"«.  Abraham  was 
and  prosperous  seaoort  /if    *llf'  P^"°**  ^  ^  large 
siderable  comme?cS  fraffi?'  ^'l?  *='"*'*^  °^  ^  ^on- 
fertile  region  DoLSt^nl*  *"'^  surrounded   by  a 

irrigation^^ihSJ^^rVn^S^^^^^^^^^ 

also  gave  a  safe  outlet  tJ  thT^f  fofL^L^uaJ 

*  c.wald.  Vnl   I  «    


a  Th-    J  '"'•*•  P-  405. 


■  -ence  of  thetirelDlUZl^'''''^'"^  '"  Egypt, 
Abraham  pSjsrvTnd" 'f  .llS""-"  »"^  75 


--~o.  j,.«tc  1491  years  b.  c. 

"5  years  for  the  residence  of  the  tKr,.r,r,T  •'"'  '"".sojourn  in  Egyp 

yean,  for  the  age  of  Abraha^^S^nrw^^  ^avJ^r y5 


•  !r 


i    i(.t.,  1 


"pi '  i 


( ;ii 


I       M 


262    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

^°J^i  °L  *^*  ."^*"-    '^'^*  ^«'ta  of  the  Euphrates 
and  the  Tigris  has  been  greatly  increased,  during  the 
past  four  thousand  years,  by  the  alluvium  deposits 
brought  down  by  their  strong  currents,  and  a  tract 
of  land  130  miles  from  north  to  south,  and  70  miles 
broad,  has  been  formed  in  this  way.    It  would  appear 
also  that   the  level   of  the  ancient  coast-line  has 
become  lower  during  the  progress  of  time,  as  the 
high  tides  not  only  wash  largely  over  the  Delta  but 
also  beyond  it.    This  condition  of  things,  in  addition 
to  the  choking  up  of  the  ancient  canals,  and  the  over- 
flow at  times  of  the  two  great  rivers,  has  turned  the 
region  into  a  vast  marsh,  from  amid  which  rise  the 
rums  of  Mugheir,  as  Ur  is  now  called.    In  Abraham's 
day  Ur  was  among  the  finest  cities  of  Chaldea.    One 
of  Its  earliest  kings,  Urukh,  had  beautified  it  by  the 
construction  of  several  important  buildings,  amone 
which  was  a  great  temple,  which  took  30,000,000 
bricks  in  its  construction,  and  was  dedicated  to  Sin, 
the  moon  god.    Two  dedication  tablets  have  recently 

Sf^.^lV^^yf^**  *'"'*^  **'  '■"'"s;  one  of  which  states 
that  "  Urukh,  king  of  Ur,  raised  a  temple  to  the  god 
bin,  his  lord,  and  also  built  the  fortified  wall  of  Ur." 
This  waU,  still  traceable,  is  over  four  miles  in  circum- 
ference. What  king  reigned  in  Ur  when  Abraham 
was  born  we  are  unable  to  state.  About  that  time 
or  shortly  afterwards  the  Elamites  established  their 
authority  in  Southern  Babylonia,  with  Larsa  (the 
Ellasar  of  Genesis  xiv.  i)  thirty  miles  north  of  Ur,  as 
their  capital  city,  and  where  Arioch  a  sub-king  of 
Elam  reigned.  The  contemporary  king  of  Northern 
Babylonia,  or  Shinar,  appears  to  have  been  Ham- 
murabi, of  whose  reign  numerous  interesting  tablet 
records  have  been  discovered  in  recent  years.'    - 

It  would  appear,  from  Genesis  xv.  7,  that  the  first 
call  from  God  came  to  Abraham  while  his  family 

-„i  ,^™°"?  the  tablet  records  of  this  period  the  names  of  Abram 
ana  the  pnncess  Sarai  appear  in  connection  with  a  contract.  Abram 
was  a  common  name  then.  ""•«>" 


»i:J. 


FROM  THE  DELUGE  TO  ABRAHAM.    263 
Jh^'aU  tJi^n  ^'''   "".^  '^'''  •»  ^«  «'"  response  to 

into  the  land  of  Canaanrand  tSly^/ame  un^^^^^^^^  ^** 
and  dwelt  thcr^      m,.»  "«cy  came  unto  Haran 

country  which  f.trnUhL     remain  m  a  well-watered 
flocks.    t!^^S  *"'^""'^«d  abundant  pasturage  for  his 

aftenvards,    (Ge^l'i!^,")     ""  «"«•  '-"  Plac. 
of  troops  moving  ,i,her  to  oJ'SrSyria.'Thi'Jutl 


!      !f 


■    ii' 


i'iii  'i 


»«4    THE  SUPREMACV  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

sL:«»".i'rH':r:„'*  •:  te  i"^^ »' 

petition  ofimportanceAr^uni^K  •  •  militaiy 

"■"^h  jMll  pour  out  their  .bund«,,  water,  fc?; 
5"^  "ft"^'"  y""  bcfori  h«.    E«„  „o,?,S 

p  "u«  «L'fo?'S'f '"  ■?"«'  'l"  "''y  >•<>"' 'o 

f»ucure  water  lor  their  families.    T  me  makes  littl* 

."  c,rc„,nf«„„.  and  suburfs  at  its "Ltel'nM^^  „"£ 
•  Tb.  n4»  „d  lit.  of  E«cli  «,c  d«c.„,rf  by  U,arf. 


FROM  THE  DELUGE  TO  ABRAHAM.  ,65 

whow  worship  Ub?et  JnwriSnnf  2^^  "nmoralities  of 
vart  ruins  of  thStTmvl^Tr^''*  ^t*'  '^'^^'  *"»« 
feet  in  height  Sixty  miIe.T>»J'"  °^'!u  •  ^""^''^d 
Calneh  or  Nippu?(now  Nuir?  ^MJ^rth^wt  stood 
cities  (Genesis  X  fc5  7h.?'  *"?*''*'  °^  Nimrod's 
Irrigati^,.  and\''a.JgibX%rna h' tSc  Vh^  T*?  °^ 
was  the  Chebar.  iftre  arfi  Ji.  ?  f '"'^  ?^  '^h'ch 
the  Baal  of  Palestine  -th^foth.  ^Jfu*  ''""P''  °*  »«». 
his  wife  Beltis     Stiincl„r«  ^*'°/*''*'8°«'»--andof 

west.sixty.fi?e\i?:"rr  ToulS  SV';,^^^^ 
Bors  ppa.  with  its  »i.,»-  *  ,3  Abraham  to 

-tscvr  «H-  "=•«*« 

fort  of  the  vomJn  Ha  ^u".y  *^°"8'  *"«*  the  com- 
lously  cared  ?oTHa«n''^''-^r'?  °^  ^^''^  ^''^^  sed^- 
the  moon  god7io5d  a? '  JS.  '£.  ^"t  ''""P'*  of 
ham  durini  C'loni'ioJ'r?^  ^ouldtt  ^'^T 
Icsure   and  opportunity  to  see  aU  th.   !•  .^'"P'* 
•ystems  of  Babjrlonian  worahfo  in  L-      idolatrous 
an  expert*  ice  which  muIiS  I    *^r*  operation, 
to  him"^  afterward  in  ^^^Z  v""  ""^  «''*"*  ^*1"« 
the  adoration  of  jihovS^lor  Ti.'"°''*u^™'>'  *° 
God.  "  that  he  will  comm»„H  h-    H."?T  ^''»'    "id 
household  after  hTm  and  Sey  shafl  kei^.E  '"^  ^'», 
the  Lord  to   do  iiistice  an/  !.  ?   •«««?  the  way  of 
xviii.  19.)  ^"'"'*'*'  *"^  judgment."    (Genesis 

can  .Bi„.  IearSJte],ta5e"i'^Jt: 


iiii 


i| 

if' 

I  ^l^ 


If! 


1 


.  n 

■fMf 

1  I ; :  I  i 

•i  =1, 


If 


ri  I 


m 


366    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE, 
father's  house,  and  to  emigrate  to  a  straiiffe  land  where 
am.       And  I  will  make  of  thee,"  said  God.  "  a  creat 

™'-'a"n"d'thou1haS'jr  fr'  .'"^  make  th/n'ame 
Sl^'ti^^M    Vu      ***.■  Wessing.    And  I  will  bless 

^uenesis  XII.  2,  3.)     So  Abraham  departed  as  the 
Lord  had  commanded,  and  moved  into  thTlJnd  of 

JaT";ith'?arahhl"  %"^»^"«;  «"<>  n'ume«,us"'.e?! 
vants,  with  Sarah  his  wife,  and  his  nephew  Lot.    That 

t^M^K'T  K^^V  ^"'^"  »"  the  one  true  God.  is  i 
Ublished  by  the  fact  of  his  prompt  obedience  to  th^ 

?a^hl    ^*  °"*  «^'*  ''»^"  *"°f  »•»  being  chosen  as  the 
father  of  a  race  from  which  would  arise  the  MeVslab 
m  whom  all  the  families  of  the  earth  should  £; 

great  nobility  of  character  and  personal  worth  He 
also  occupied  a  high  social  position  S  h?s  father'! 
eldest  son,  and  the  prospective  chief  of  his  tribe  He 
r,h«rr''"  '  "»"  ^  ^''^'^  «"d  co„side;ation 

sterling  qua  ities  of  character,  of  ripe  experience  in 
the  knowledge  of  the  world,  and  em!neS  fitted 
every  way  to  become  the  founder  of  a  new  natSi 

The  ahr?!,"''""^^  °^  ■""  ^^-^  *»  time' to  come! 
death  inH  k'"?  i"^  ^^^  **"y  °^  h»  b'rth,  his  life.  hS 
m?nn.r  tk"*^'  •'"  ^'''J?^'*  ^'"P'^^tic  and  dearest 
Tk  Au  ^h"*  «s  nothing  uncertain  or  mythical 
about  that  story.    The  existence  to-day  of  the  Jew  S 

?-fwir"?^  r''*'f.i°  't*  t"'*^-    The  existence  ifThe 
The  oTd  T^f  ^*^'^  »«?°"dary  testimony  in  the  case 
iWlL?     ^'»t*ment  gives  repeated  evidence  of  his 
Identity  and  the  law  and  the  prophets  are  full  of  h  s 

A^m^^the'r  T  ??  ^""^  b^y  f-ther.the  God  of 
Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob  " 

Testime°„r?-i°  """".•   (  Exodus  iii.  6.)    In  the  New 
Testament  Christ  again  and  again  vouches  for  the 


FROM  THE  DELUGE  TO  ABRAHAM.  267 

SSn!!*^»i.**'  Abraham.    Several  of  hii  apostle, 
IJ  rS;  •  **"  'S?**?*  °f  them  all.  do  the  sa£e     ff 
MdSf?.  •^«°'^«"«»y  the  peraonality  of  AbTaham 

fif?xS«    **'  T?*'"«  ^'"*»'"  *»»«  Exodus,  and  s  H 
Te.Srhi"oV'""«  "''""  *'  ""'  ^''  ^'  '''" 

Wnd  jToir.?  ."'%»"^«?«gate  the  history  of  man- 

orarnr/.??r ''*'°"  *^^"«^ '•^^  -^erarstaS 
n  an^  «?!-T'  *.^°PP«'-age,  and  so  forth,  to  a  higher 
p  ane  of  civilisation  rests  solely  upon  the  idlest  ,nJr 
ulaton  imaginable.    Barbarism  aSS  civillsS  on.Sw; 
have  already  seen,  have  had  a  concurrent  existence 

down  fn  "**''•  ^''"°?*  ^~'"  t**^  Beginning  of  Things' 
down  to  our  own  day.  and  are  still  with  Ss.     Despfte 

3^1  fectTf\"'?!:?"'°^^'°'°^^^h^^^  ^«"  toS'to 
ni!«il^        r  ^eJ"^*^'  *5  supplying  alone  the  true  ex- 

SSt'worid'^^Th^^i'^  physical  phenomena  of  t. 
ancient  world.    The  Accadian  tab  ets  teach  us  that 

orSj'  the  true  foundation  of  the  histo^r  of  the 
primitive  world,  and  the  rise  of  its  original  nations! 


;  -M 


ill! 
ii  iif 


'fa. 


ii;:fi 


268    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

And  we  gather  surely  from  its  pages  that  Abraham 
was  not  a  mythical  individual,  but  a  positive  and  real 
personality.  The  Bible  with  Genesis  cut  out  of  it, 
would  be  little  better  than  a  mere  blank;  and  Genesis, 
with  its  first  nine  chapters  struck  out,  would  be  pre- 
cisely in  the  same  condition.  The  Book  of  Genesis 
has  no  counterpart  in  the  ancient  or  modern  litera- 
tures of  the  world.  It  is  perfectly  unique;  and  its 
story  ( or  rather  series  of  stories  )  embodies  the  history 
of  the  creation  of  the  world,  of  the  fall  of  man,  of  the 
first  promise  of  a  Messiah,  of  the  origin  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  atonement  of  mankind,  of  the  period 
between  the  Beginning  of  Things  and  the  Deluge,  of 
the  dispersion  of  the  nations,  of  the  call  to  Abraham 
and  the  founding  of  a  Jewish  people.  Its  story  of  the 
lives  of  the  great  Hebrew  patriarchs  —  simple  men 
dwelling  in  tents,  not  grand  kings  or  princes  —  pre- 
sents the  most  vivid  and  interesting  panorama  of 
ancient  pastoral  life  it  is  possible  to  conceive.  It 
concludes  with  the  most  pathetically  touching  and  in- 
structive narrative,  exemplifying  the  providential 
goodness  and  mercy  of  God,  of  Joseph  and  his 
brethren,  and  the  settlement  of  Jacob  and  his  imme- 
diate descendants  in  Egypt,  under  the  most  favour- 
able circumstances  for  them  and  the  future  increase 
and  prosperity  of  their  race.  What  can  be  said  of 
the  scholars  who,  in  the  pride  of  mere  human  learning 
—  real  learning  sometimes,  but  more  frequently 
German  second-hand  imitative  and  superficial  learn- 
ing, would  rob  mankind  of  one  of  their  greatest  trea- 
sures, the  wonderful  Book  of  Genesis? 


h!J 


M 


ilM 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  SOJOURN  OF  ISRAEL  IN  EGYPT. 

JnVe'clSSdfeJTrs^?  .^T'  'r^  *^^ Sojourn 
ter  of  consfderabk  Ss  bn^fh^'l^'^"  "  •"^^- 
appear  that  the  true  facts  of  th/°"^^  '^  ^°"  "°t 
room  for  it.  In  Genes  s  xv  rV  r' /';'"  *  °^  """^^^ 
Abraham,  that  his  seed  sh^"  h^'  ^  '^'^^'"^^^'y  ^ells 
that  is  n^t  theirs  for  .  ^i  •  !  ^  r*''^"^^'" '"  ^  '^nd 
Exodus  xii.  4S!4z  we  hav^eX  H°fi  f°-  T"^^'  '" 
that  the  tinie  of  fh^  <t-     ^  *^^^"'*^  information. 

Egypt  was" 430  yells^  'rATtsl'^^  i^sTJ" 

sSaS1ii^;%  ,r  r  "^"''^^"'^^^ 

Josephus  also  tells^ us  that  C'°^^.^*   430    years. 

to  be  consfZed  in  »h]  V*"  Pu'""""-    ■"•«=  «  also 
that  it  Sfd  £1  iaertv  !°"^  A,""/™"°'y  f^". 

'  Antiquities  of  the  Jews,  Chap.  IX.  p.  67. 


4^- 

''li  f 


f!f 


'  < 


:f  ;(( 


I? 


h 


r 


i 


rii.! 

-     ) 
I: 


[1^  &\  I 


ii« 


270    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

atTJ.n'l^/''"^^*'  '■**^  of  increase,  their  number 
at  the  end  of  215  years  would  only  reach  wiE  I 

we  LS  fh    °'"*''  *°  ^^'■'  """ibered  603,550;  ^nd  if 
uuuuess  correct  or  very  nearly  so.     If  we  add  tr, 

whenM  •  be^r^  P^hS  anThJ^JedT^l^ 
was  '^nf?--  J°^^P^  ^^^  ^'>°"t  »7  years  oW  Khe 
rrteHi*-"i°  ?^^P''  "«  must  afterwards  have 
vlZld  M"  ^^'t?  '^"!*  ^'gh*  y^*«  before  be?n| 
fnteilll  nf  r"-  ^^^"  ^^^""^  ^^  '"°st  probably  af 
^aoT?!  ?r^  y^^""'  ^"""S  «'h'ch  he  won  his 
gaolers  confidence,  and  interpreted  the  dreams  nf 
Pharaoh's  ch  ef  butler  and  chi?f  baker     AccoTdin/ 

now  n.c  '/^'-  ''  ^"°*^'"  '"t^^al  of  two  full  year! 
now  passed  away,  so  that  he  was  30  years  of  aJe 

ceeded  fhe  ;?  ''°°'*  ^''^  P^araoh."^  Then  suS 
ceeded  the  seven  years  of  plenty  and  two  vears  of 

Ja?or;ven"t^Ho"°''^'"^^^  ^^^^39  yearToffwhen 
So,.r^?  °'^"  "i*°  ?Sypt,  and  the  period  of  the 
bojourn  commenced.  Joseph  was  about  46  years  of 
age  at  the  t.me  of  his  father's  death,  andt  he  died 


SOJOURN  OF  ISRAEL  IN  EGYPT.    27, 

in  Egypt,  who  stood  next  to  ?h Vi?  ^'^^^^'"^  l"^J^^' 

known  as  Abel  Mizraim   or  *if  .'  ^"erwards 

the  Egyptians     On  tiS'r  JJ^  "Mourning  place  of 

funeraf ?oseph-s  br^ethreT  p    aTe/Tewtr  of '."' ^ 
for  the  tresoass  th*.,,  i,,^  .      5^  *°'^  pardon, 

That  pard^HL  Mry'accoSr'a^'d^f'"''  "'•'"• 
added  by  Toseoh  fh«  h!         ij'   *"°  *'  Promise 

and   comforted  th^m       u/u     ^t'"'*^  Kindly  to  them 

teTe^^-fSSf'fH^p"^^^^^ 
would  .at.  to  e'ltat4':5.h"l{^'?„'';  ^^ 

and^*^^e„M.ed  hSS' .e-^J?  ^ ^T^n' 

b;.&.i,^ra^l^av''^,s^^^ 

Joseph  and  his  two  sons)  wtoUe  in  E  <^^'!:'';!:« 

«»s-.E'£  siss.s  tK.'s.r»' 


liii 


Hill  f 


il 


:{lli 

m 


( 


H  f 


■       ! 


iil 


.'I'  ■'  ''  m 


m--    f 


272    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 
SiTh^lhll!.^"'^*'"  'U?''*^'^  °^  *^<^  Hebrews  adopted 

appear  from  his  inhuman  order  that  the  Israehtes 
men  trA^'rV'"*^"^  *°  the  condition  of  boS 
,S  <;     '-t^^  *^  "°*"-    J*^*«h  tradition  touch- 
ingly  describes  the   evils  which   had    befallen  the 
Israelites  sometime  after  the  death  of  Josenh     AH 
then-  special  privileges  were  set  aside/  By.a„d-^" 
fields,  yineyards,  and  other  possessions,  which  Joseph 
had    given    them,   were   taken   from   them    bv  the 
Egyptian  government;  and  eventually  4  time  pro! 
gressed.  they  were   formally  enslaved     Thev  wIrJ 
now  compelled  to  work  without  payment   to  buM 
fortresses  and  pyramids,  to  keep  the  c^a^als  clean  and 

minT  an7r'  ^^^'"'^  '"  quarries,  brick-fidds!  and 
mines,  and  to  perform  all  manner  of  field  labour 
for  the  crown  and  its  principal  officers.     They  were 

wo?k  at^them  I'^V^^^'  •"  °^^"  *h^*  the^mTght 
work  at  them  for  their  masters.     Even  the  women 

posit  ons°'  V"^'\T  •"  "^"y  ^-y^'  and  fin  me^al 
K  ?f  M  ^'  *°"Jd  appear  that  sometime  after  the 
birth  of  Moses,  the  hardships  of  the  Hebrews  were 
greatly  increased,  and  that'^they  werftreS  s«II 

S^  \*"^'^  *^^"  ^*  *"y  ^o^e*-  period.  Severe 
taskmasters  were  now  set  over  them  to  see  that  they 

Duiit  tor  Pharaoh  the  treasure  cities  Pithom  and 
Raamses.  (Exodus  i.  n.)  And  the  Egyptians  the 
narrative  continues,  made  the  children  ofTraeTseJve 
S  T";-  A"d  they  made  their  lives  bSerwth 
hard   bondage  in  mortar  and  in  brick,  and  in   all 

whTcrG^od'aS'J'^^  !?  ?^  '^^  u^"^*^  --  "he  4"ean 

wni.W  h^,.      ^^^^  *°  ""^^^  ^^^  Hebrews  not  only 

•^  whih  i  ^""^u  i*^^*;  *°  '^^^«  ^^^  fertile  country 

he    «eV.«f^  ^^'°  ^°"^  ^^^'*'  surrounded  with 
the    greatest  abundance,  and    to  also  make  them 

*  Beer's  Leben  Moses,  p.  9. 


-r^ 


SOJOURN  OF  ISRAEL  IN  EGYPT     .,, 
acquainted  with  trades  and    ofi, 
necessary  to  their  subseQuent  n^'  °f<="PatJons  so 

From  the  death  of  lotSn J  u^'u"''^  existence, 
years  B.  c.,to  the  bl^t^rfZ^^^'^'^  1°° "^  P'^<=-  ^^So 
•s  a  long  interval  of  which  RJh;^^?  ^•*"  ^"^  there 
almost  nothing.  When  we  e»?'  ^"'^'^  t«"s  us 
scanty  informftion  voucLafedTn  ^"Pp'^*"^"*  the 
searches  in  EevDtian  h.w  *°  "^  there,  by  re- 

labyrinth  so  comSex  in  t?"i  ^"  ^"^  oursel'vesV  a 
to  its  termination  .■saimnl'^f^,^*"!"  ^^at  every  clue 
dates  meagre  deuSs'^^'dynSres^J^J^'  ^^'^^  and 
derived  from  tomb  anH  ^^      ^*  *"d  national  life 

papyri  document  jumbTThTmslf  '"^"'P^^"^  '"d 
contradictory  manner    hat    h^.  '"^^^  "P  '"  such  a 
h-stop.  ver,^soon  finds  himself  in  "''""'  °''  ?SyP«an 
ties,  from  which  there  Ton i,™^^^  ofdifficul- 
«cape.     Like  all  the   Pat.n  ^.?  '""'*^*^  '"eans  of 
world  the  Egyp  ians  never  h?n°"'  ^^^''^  a"<='«nt 
starting-point  to  date  f?omanH      1-/  ^chronological 
had  nothing  in  the  shane'ofi  ""^'""^  ^''^  "^h?ews 
The  story  of  their  national  l,?I  t  ^°"f^<="tive  history^, 
fragments  which  the  greates   s^^^^^  "P  of  undated 

P"5i."to  proper  chroSgtaf  o  de"r  ^m'"'?"  ^^''  ^° 
the  French  director  in  chiff  of  fh  m  •  ^a^^tte  Bey, 
Museum  at  Cairo,  endeavoured  tn  ^^  -T^  ^^>'P««n 
tangled  skein  of  the  chronoTolv  nf  v^'^i**^"  °"t  the 
try.  but  with  little  success  ?^H.^'  ^"^^P*^^  ^°"n- 
Egyptologist,  Lepsius  faned  ^hnU  •  ^T^  ^^'"'"an 
rection.     At  the  Q»ml  f-        Vh°%  >n  the  same  di- 

their  concTusions     and  Z  '^7  ^'^^'•^^  ^'ddyt 
stni  more  unce"r^in!"and7oubt  JtilT''^  "".""^^^ 
This  IS  especially  the  case  a.  if  ^"f^  doubtful 
the  Sojourn,  and  wear?. „•    ^^^''^^  the  period  of 
to  Biblical  histoo^.Tn  Lef  to  T'l'^'"'^  *°  ^^turn 
of  accurate  lightTdrrect  or  indSTnT^"'  «'^^'"« 
throw  upon  this  period      Thl^^!    '  ^  ""^^  possibly 
og'st  opinion  pofnts  to  Ramies  n"f'..°^  ^^P*°'- 
Pharaoh  of  the  oppression  Th.     I -^^  the  principal 
cessor,  Meneptah^  ^rntL^il^^^uerpol?;- 

i8  ^  "  y 


till 


if' 


li 


If 


i      ' 


MM 


1'  ■■  , 

"£S 

! 
...  i.      il 

274    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

BoTh'Si*''''  ^^^^'T'  ^  *^*=  PJ^araoh  of  the  Exodus 
Both  belonged  to  Dynasty  XIX.,  the  precedinTkinw 
of  which  were  Rameses  I.  and  Seti  I.  T?,e  formS 
founded  the  Rameside  usurping  dynastv  to  ThJ 
P.-^J^d'^e.fthe  direct  royal  hL|f  E^^^Sn  sove^'r! 

DrasTvXVm'"^*''  "'•^^  "°'"^'  thffast  kbg  of 
Jjynasty  A  VIII.    Rameses  II.,  the  Sesostris  nf  H#.r«^ 

otus  and  other  Greek  writers  wL  one  "f  the^/reat 
est  kings  that  ever  ruled  in  Eevot  H;«  rZ^  I 
extended  oyer  a  large  part  ofT^a  an"' Arcra"5 
he  raised  his  country  to  the  highest  point  of  grandeur 
and  prosperity  to  which  it  eve?  attained  Kder  to 
strengthen  his  right  to  the  throne   his   father  Se« 

Syna:t  XVIir"^"^'/".-^',  Ame„ophr  III.^  o 
h!r^5l    .      •  J   ^/'"S  to  his  legitimate  descent,  by 
his  mothers  side,  from  the  true  royal   line    Rame 
ses  II  was  held  in  such  estimation  by  the  Ar^c^S 
Egyptians  that  Seti  was  finally  inducted  to  ffiJte 
in  his  favour,  and  he  ascended  the  throne  while 
stil    a  young  man.     His  reign,  as  stated  in  thi  in 
scnptions    lasted   for  the  long  per  S  of  67  years" 
If  we  add  23  years  for  the%eign  of  his    fathe?* 
eight  years  for  the  reign  of  Rameses  T    Li  1    ' 

ro?arof/'^  '"^' J^^«"  of^MenepSh^'rw^havTa 
yiv  //i°°7^"'/''?'"   *^*^   founding  of  DynLty 

When  Moses  had  to  flee  for  his  life  into  thi  dS 

t  .K^^f'^u"*^.'.*  "^^  "°*  ""t»  two  years  after  the 
death  of  that  king  that  the  fugitive  was  summoned 
by  God  to  deliver  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  S 

?^::S'    J**'"  '^^i'  ^'  =^«"  that  Seti  I   was- the 
Pharaoh  who  gave  the  order  for  tl  .  destruction  of 
the  Hebrew  male  children,  and  not  Rameses  II    al 
though  the  latter,  who  was  consulted  byT^fs  fathe";  on 
all   important  state  affairs   from   a  very  early  ail 
owmg  to  his  royal  mother's  influence,  was  no  doult 


^^J^^^°^^^°^  ISRAEL  IN  EGViT.    ,,, 

h.s  subsequent  ^&klS^nli::!f^t''''S  -character  as 
less,  would  not  hesJatl  f  ^!'^'  ^"^  who,  neverthe 
"methods  to  carry  out  ii.n  ^''^P*  *^<^  "lost  sTnTster 
enslaved   Hebrews   whose  »??"  ^J  ^««kening  the 
become  a  source  of  aTar^toff^'^^i^PHcation  had 
The  loo  years  that  rTpres '^  ^u^  ^''  ^^^^'^^^s. 

ter;,  y^r:;/C^^f-^^^^^^^^^^  eSu? 

and  the  subsequeSrL  v^^i^P'^  ^«fe  '"  the  Sojourn 
^h.ch  the  long  war  of  ?„il  ^°''i''^  '"t«val  during 
Egypt  from   the  foreiVn  '"j?^P^"dence,  which   freed 
would  leave  a  period  1?  ,  "^'''°*  ''"Je.  took   nlace 
Dynasty  XVliraftertLl'.-S^^^^     fillj'd  f^^g 
finally  driven  out  of  Middle  an!??''  ^;,"S^  had  beeh 
J^ngs  were  evidently  of  the"li°T^.S^P*-    These 
gave  rulers  to  BabvlonL  ?        ""^  ^^^^  "ce  which 
netho,  as  cited  by /ose 'h.ff  i  V^'""^  *=«"turies.     Ma- 
the  Shepherd  Kii^g^Ttt  >l''''  '^.^  dynasties  of 
which  would  about  cover  thi^^  f^''^^  ""^  SU  years 

fro-  the   beginning^/ DyL'st^^Vrr^^^''  '"^«^'^ai 
of  Dynasty  XVII.     But  ^^"^^^'y  XIII.  ^9  ^-e  close 

of  tht°°c:r';^  ^°"'d  more  nearlv  ^'^'^^J^*^  ^^^'d 

of  the  Shepherd  rule  A  ?tl  u  *'«e"t  the  length 
Middle  and  Lower  Egynf^^SfP^^,^^  ^'ng  ruled^lj 
to  the  land  of  Canaan  •       j. -Abraham  emierateH 

had  his  dreams  interpreted  K    f  '^*"'"  ShepheT/kL^ 
to  the  exalted  posS  which  {?'?.'''  ^^°"^  ^^  S 
unt.1  h.s  death.     Upper  Eiln^H  ^'^^'^^''ds  occupied 
the  rule  of  the  Shepherd  K^SL""^.*  '*^S«  P^rt  of 
sway  of  the  regular  royal  fer''*'"!?'"^^  ""der  the 
concurrent  dynitieseSeJSJeb'^  line  so  that  two 
Dynasty  XVIII.   contained  „^.'"'^'^°''''e"turies. 
k'ngs  and  one  queen    whof?     °   '^''  *^^"  thirteen 

'Jo«ph„„gai„,tApio„.BookI.«c.5. 


I  -  ! 


III 


II 


27<5    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

out1rSh.o"J.?H  V-  *'»°/»"«d,  who  finally  drove 
out  the  bhepherd  Kings  after  a  contest  which  lasted 
for  several  years,  was  the  founder  of  Dyn^s  y  XV?II 

Sykt^Pharth^fn^  If  -PP-tedT'Sed 
<u  J?  I.l'^faon.  and  would  consequently  be  resarded 

parfv  Th'e  tt  f  *™.?  K'""'  "^^  r^ulerTd t^ 
party.     The  fact,  too,  that  they  did  not  worshin  th^ 

ancient  gods  of  the  country,  and  w?re  dSfereSt  i^ 

also   militate  against  them.      It  was  only  natural 
therefore,  that  they  would  very  soon  be  depwJed  of 
any  special  privileges  they  may  have  possessed  and 

or  ?heSv"tolTP*^'  '''°'"J^^  paymer:ft;:e"s1 
or  the  duty  to  abour  on  public  works.  Aahmes  it 
appears  was  zealous  for  the*^old  faith  of  the  land  and 
tvvo  inscriptions  in  the  Tura  quarries  record  th^t^n 

tJ^r"'^-'^°"u^  Jl^^  *^f  his^eigi  he  repaired  ihe 
temples  which  had  been  allowed  to  fall  iSto  decay 
during  the  Hyksos  regime.  ^ 

r7^rvJarrV  r^^'lT'  P^"^'*^  ^V'"'  commenced 
1703  jears  B.C.,  while  Lepsius  places  the  date  at 

1591  years  B.C.    Now.  if  we*^allow  100  years  for  the 

reigns  of  the  four  Rameside  kings  before  thrExodus 

and  add  23S  years  thereto  for  the  reigis  of  the  fou?! 

nate  at  1443  years  B.C..  at  148  years.  Both  writers 
rnake  Dynasty  XVIII.  term inlte  several  yearHfte" 
the  Exodus,  which  is  clearly  an  error,  as  the  ins?r£ 
tions  show  that  Dynasty  XIX.  was  about  loiyeaS 
old  when  that  memorable  event  took  place^  ^The 
following  chronological  table  will  enable  the  reader  to 
understand  the  true  facts  of  the  case  more  cleariy :  ^^ 

Se  cSlrf  ^H  tn^M'"""  ^^*-  "»9»  years  B.C. 
n«!»k  !^  S       **  to  Moses,  1491  years  b.  c. 
Death  of  Rameses  II..  1493  years  b.c 


SOJOURN  OF  ISRAEL  IN  EGYPT.    277 

Commencement  of  Dvnutv  Xiy    t.«. ... 
Commencement  of  ul^^Z  X  Vli'r^s,^""  '•  ''• 
Death  of  Iceph.  iSllTluV"-  '*»<* >«"•  »•  =• 


Jacob's  arriraf  in  Egypt,  1931  ve 

i}i'?»'A"'>.  ««"»celnto  eln.an7i,36"year.  ..c 


Jacob's  arriraf  in  EgyptrToai  vean  »  r 
^^r»»'*«';«  e«ra„ceTti  (^.l.^an!"    " 
Birth  of  Abraham,  aan  years  b.c. 


thit  ie  TkII^i?!^'"'*^^'"^  ^^'^•e'  «'t  became  necessary 
JeJ Lrof  tSe  h.,^''M'*^'*'?S-point.  which  the  coS^ 

correct  or  »t  fcfl  *"*''?"'^*'^*=  °PJ"i°n  admits  to  be 
correct,  or  at  least  near  y  so.     The  dat#.  nf  f »,.  V-u -i 

derful  mann.r     T*  aeveloped  m  a  most  won- 

nrii,   '?*""«'^'     It  "ow  remains  for  us  to  reverse  the 

to,    and  commerce  and  trade  wpr^    » ""laisoaaaed 


iff 


-  i* 


i   -1: 


II 


ii 


11       !!' 


>78    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

the  Shepherd  ^King  who 'then  ?'^'"^"  ''^*"  »'^'»» 
Apophis.*^  In  cSmSon  of  the  S?hi  ''*''  ""'"'^^ 
remarkahle  inscription  wTfouVd  on^  tom"h ''If'p-,  * 
thyia  di-ri'ie  the  lan^r  r.tt»^f  .?  *°'"°  **  Eile- 

Babu.    The  inscription  stated  thftl^I  ?2^^T'  °^ 
broken  out,  during  many  years   I  aJ      ^  ^^""^^ 

tansir.  Thf  E^p  Srol.  n^n"""  "^"P'^'  ^l-MuT 
and  translated  tWreS^^^^  '^^'^  *=°P'*^d 

history  of  Egypt  ^th  m!k  "T*l°?.'  *'"«""•  '"his 
records  the  fSn;rfLjSK  probab.hty,  that  Babu 
tion  that  JosepT^ov/rn.H  ?  '  **  "*  *?^*  *''''  °'<*  ^^^di- 
King  Apo^;SL7sf  truTonc  ""'^^  *^^  ^^^P^^^ 

of  Canaan  f^£*;hTch'jac?bc7^e"'T*  *°  ^^'.  ''^"^ 

andVrSr^iiru^^^^^^^^^^^ 

most  suitable^    T?     P  to  pasturage,  for  which  it  was 

Jacob  and  his  onrshenh  T  t!"  '''''  ''^S'^"  <"'' 
lived  in  tenS  an^whSet^Slth  ^^  •P'-^^r^'?"'  ^ho 
vast  flocks  and  ^^r^^Z^^  ^^^^  l^^^^l^ 


SOJOURN  OF  ISRAEL  IN  EGYFr.    279 

of  Lower  U^p^^tttl^JtlA  T"  *''*"  *^«  "^''^nd 
the  purposes  o?U«t?o„t.  ""'""'°"»  *=*"«'»  ^^ 
ingly  fertile.    ASd^Tg  to  vk-^^^^^^^  """'*' 

tract  stretched  southwards  in  -  **'*'  •""'^''  °f  *his 
most  to  the  present  ciTv  of  ri^/  ""T  *°"6"*'  «»- 
theTanitic  branch  of  the  N^lJ  V°V*'^\^»» '•'^^  of 
to  form  it.  westeJn  bounda,!;'  tt.""'^^'  ^A  ^^'*» 
>outh.  on  the  other  hand  if  7'  !  *''*  »««.  On  the 
Cairo  to  the  Su«  Canal  kin  fi*,."°'*''*l^'*"'>'  ^^o™ 
itcrranean  at  a  po.^?  wher2  ^^  "^"^  •''"^^^^^^  »h<^  Med- 
from  Suez  ex^eSded  lo  /hV^*'  l""'"?*  ^°«'fi*^d  wall 
nasty  XVIII    and  thi..    »«*»*'°'-«'     During  Dy- 

the  land  of  Goshen  clmet  aKPy'''''y  ^^^' 
the  Egyptian  kinS-^^H  I  ^^-  ^'S'''^  "t'mated  by 
ingsw^-rerectedTh^rf  Th"''?'%*tf  8'"*  ^uild- 
in  the  district/or  fieWof^T./  ^^'^^  °f  R^n^^es-Tanis. 
it.»  cventualfy  became  th?r  V'  *''*'  ?"'"»  ^^cnb^ 
his  court;  and  the  Lfdin"^^^^  king  and 

magnificent  descrrptio,^'^'T  le«e7  07 *■"  °/  *  "^^^ 
scribe,  of  the  Rames  de  nerioH  n  ^  ""  Egyptian 
British  Museum,  gives  a  IJJ^t'  "°^  P''"erved  in  the 

and  life  passes  ii^onsf.n.t  ^'^  ^"'i  °''  «^°°d  things, 
has  a  daV  market     *IkVP'1*^  ^"^  abundance.     It 

lakes  swari^rtKateSo^rtfiSd"'^  '"  '''^'  '^^ 
vegetables;  there  is  no  enH  «Vll  ^^Ids  are  green  with 

which  tast;  like  honev  "li  .     .     ^'^I  and  melons, 
«res.     Its  barns  arefSSfThiat'Sirr^^^ 
-l^dlhrfi^te^g^;^^^^^^^^  -on^d 

Plenty  Of  sweel  win^^tS:  ^  ol%roXptT^-  ? 
LandofGo.hen,p.7..  *  Psalm  Ixxviii.  ... 


;l 


iiijf 


(.  ^i  i! 


»8o    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 
Canal,  the  borian  fish  in  the  ponds:  manv  kind,  nf 

the  r„  .„3i»f  **"  »"l»*«Ph«-Pwnu  fish  in  the  pooU  of 
mouth  Stt^vai^**'  Harraz  fish  is  found  in  the  fuH 
mouth  of  the  Nile,  near  Tanis.    The  Pool  of  Horui 

ere'Jh'Ila;.;  '^'  ^f "*'"•'*  Lake  nitre.  Their  sh  p. 
ua  H^  «.•  •°"''  ^'"u*^'  *"**  abundance  are  perpet- 
1  u"  -r  fcjoices  who  has  settled  here.  The  reedl 
lake  .,  full  of  lilies;  that  of  Pshensor  is  gay  "S 

K'^J  ''°^'?-  ^I'i'''  ^~'"  »»>«  nurser'esf  flo^ri 
from  the  gardens,  birds  from  the  ponds,  we  dcdi! 
cated  to  the  feast  of  King  Rameses.  ThowTho  live 
near  the  ,ea  come  with  fish.  Feasts  in  honour  of  the 
heavenly  bodies,  and  of  the  great  events  of  the  se/ 
■ons,  interest  the  whole  population  T?evouth  «- 
f^ZTJP"  if  '"  f-;r^ftire.  whh  fi?e  ofon  the  r 
heads  of  freshly-curled  hair.     On  the  day  when  Ram^ 

?^%V~"****=r'*'  8°^  Mout  on  earth -came  to  the 

iS^intW'^f'^'!.'  ^°°"'  ^'^^^  bunches^f  flow! 
ers  m  their  hands,  and  garlands  on  their  heads     All 

the  people  were  assembled,  neighbour  with  neighbour 
o  bnng  forward  their  complaints.    S.  trained  Tn 

loLr^'?5  *'^?°''  °^  ^*'"P»'»'  fi"«^d  the  a  ;  with 
songs      The  wme  was  delicfous;    the  sherbet  Hke 

Kr??'.lT'''.'^  S*^  ^°"*y-     There  was  £er  from 
Kat.  (Gahlee)  m  the  port,  brought  in  ships  from  PaU 

men's 'S  fe%*  -i-^Y^rds;  with  s^eet  re^resh- 
^rrw/r      Tu  ^*  ^^S^^''   and  garlands  from  the 
orchards.      They  sat    there  with  joyful    hearts  or 
walked  about  without  ceasing.    King  RameS  Mia 
mun  was  the  god  they  celebrated  thus."  *  "'" 

rh.s  letter  was  written   about  3440    years  a^o 

c^edTlofenh'"  1°"*"  '^'''y  y""  °f^g«-  I?  we?an 
fn  thi-'  P^^/J**"^**  *"  ^'^^cer  in  high  command 
m  the  army  of  Rameses  II.,  and  had  win  gr^a"?,". 


SOJOURN  OF  ISRAEL  IN  EGYPT     ,8, 

WM  originally  0*««?nh  and* h,?'^''  ^^''^  '»•»"«'»« 
the  god  Osiris,  in  Se^^J^t  ,t  ,±  T  r\P"'»»  ^^ 
oty.     Manctho's  stateminf  h«     **'"P^  °^  ^»  native 
the  Bible  narrative  aSd^^^°J'  ".°*  ^«^'"°"«e  with 
But.  in  any  eveiM^'p^^Sro^^^^^^^^      ""*^"»''- 
now  most  probably  at  irn«    ^    "*"*''•'«*»  was 
The  wonderfully  Lutifu    aS   ^.f"*"*  '^'^'Bht. 
»cribed  in  the  letter  wc  have  J-^^^'^  '°""*'^  ^^■ 
waste  of  desert  sand  a nH  i^  ^  ''*'''*•  "  "O"'  >  barren 
its  ancient  dSes;  whUe  ^'1''°^'''  ?^  ''^'"»i"»  of 
Nile,  caused  by  th^  Tnc  'e  ofll'  n  f*'"  H  °f  the 
a  vast  period  of  time    ?«*''*  ^*''**  «'"""«  «uch 

Werpa^rtofthfd  rrictnear?hr"'^  """""^  ^^  »he 
water  marsh.  No  douS  ?f  p  ^*'  "!*  '"^^  *  "'«fe  salt- 
control  Egypt,  much  of  if  r^'rVj^"' ^°"«""«  to 
«nd-by,  be  reclaSfrom  •  '^"'^  °f  ^°'^'"'  will,  by- 

barren  conS'Jnd  La?n'£.S"*'"i  neglected 'an^d 
country.  '   ^  *^'""  •»«co'ne  the  garden  of  the 

Shit"5  Kik«  ^^^^  «^«$y  »een.  drove  the 

XVfll.,   was  at  onL  .  iP^*  ''"^  ^°""«Jed  Dynasty 

During  hS;;eign.Th1ch  mus?h'"**  »"cce,sful'^ru?e? 

twenty-five  yeafs,  Eg^pt  S  btc!  *'"'*"'*^.  *'  '«"* 

entered  upon  a  couS?of  Seat  5o^«*- "'''"'*' *^^ 
and  success  in  war     Th^  ««i*     't?,'""*'*^  prosperity 

nearly  all  the  soTof  Jh^ c^ofn^'^ll^''''^' '"  "^''^•"^ 
k-ng,  made  Pharaoh  rgrea?e7d«  P^ff  "^  °^  ^''^ 
former  period,  and  olac^H  S!!  i-     P®*  .*''*"  ^t  any 

the  people  more  com^pJetet  iLi^K-^"^  ^°'^""«  °f 
s«mp  e  and   DatriarrSE     ^      °^'  *"*  control.     The 

Wn£ofDyn£f;x^lfX7;d"u'"*  ""^  ?'  ^y^'^' 
Under  the  ensuing  dynJ^vtK  ^'^^Pf'^^'-ed  with  them. 

England  the  eldct  .on  ofij,^^ 


I 


If      I,' 
ill 


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r  '5 


282    THE   SUPREMACY  OF  THE   BIBLE. 

tributaries.  They  were  eminently  successful,  as  time 
progressed,  and  the  great  enrichment  of  Eg^ptT^ 

AVll.,  and   the  earlier    kmgs  of  Dynasty  XVni 
there  was  a  sudden  advance  to  richness  a^nd  sp "n- 

th.  ;«  ^'  ""^'''  ",^*"''?"y  ^"^  expected,  where  all 
the  common  people  of  the  land  were  now  little 
t^ony^*"  .'"ere  serfs  of  the  crown,  and  a  conscrS 
tion  always  ,n  order  at  the  pleasure  of  the  reign  ne 

sta^e'wiih!^^'  T'Hy  ^^"'"^  «  g^^^t  ^^-4 
J^n%  t  ^^'^--S^standingarmy,  ready  for  any  emer- 
gency which  might  arise.    As  Dynasty  XVHI.  grows 

ald'hli''"  w"^  ^r^""''  ^^^^  ^"d  more  powS 
and  his  public  works  more  magnificent.  ThJ  inscrio 
tions  show  that  the  farmer,  and  his  ordinary  beasts  Sf 

re"corSTh/'V'^.*%"ir  ^'^"'^^^  ^"^  ^^^^^ 
nrSS.;  7t    ^""1^°"^  °f  the  higher  ranks  of  the 
priesthood   has    been   enormously   increased.      The 
king  now  stands  at  the  head  of  the  sacerdotal  system 
and  not  satisfied  with  the  legitimate  honours  ofTi^ 
portion  proclaims  himself,  like  the  Roman  emperos 
ohiL      f  /^•"°'^'  *°u^*^  *  g°^'  «"d  the  legitimate 
^i^^\^    *^"""*'  """''^P'    '^°  ""y  °n  the  lovern! 
ment  there  grew  up.  side  by  side  with  soldiirs  and 
priests,  a  vast  official  bodyf  clever,  ambi  fou?  Ind 
unscrupulous,  which  led  to  serious  evils  in  the  state 
All  public  posts  went  by  favour.     Even  the  couS  of 
justice  became  venal,  and  the  strong  hand,  ana  not 

n?o"v1„itr  ^T^'''^  *^"  P"^"'^  ^^^^'  °f  conquered 
provinces.    The  common  people  fared  ill  in  this  age 
Their  principal  function  was  to  supply  soldiers  and 
sailors  for  the  army  and  navy.  and.  Xn  slavi-labour 
was    msufficient.   mechanics  and    labourers   fo?  the 

K?  Ti''     ^^V'  °"'y  '^^P^  °f  escape  from  this 
life  of  drudgery  and  service  was  to  rise  iSto  the  offi! 

t;en.tr  ^^r'.^^'l'"'^*''"**  *=°"'d  °"'y»>e  done  in 
the  public  schools,  that  were  open  to  all  alike,  excep" 

PpM"?;-.  ^"'•'   ^'"-  ^"-  P-  '36-    Br„g«A'.  History  of  Egypt. 


!         I 


) 


SOJOURN  OF  ISRAEL  IN   EGYPT     .83 

fftt%te':^s%°i!!?  *^e  slaves, 

ever  produced.    The  Sf  *^^''^''y  ^"t  that  Egypt 
Wngs.  are  no^  the  lSr'„^^^ 
But  to  these  temples  fepulch^alTh'*  T'^^  ^^•fi"^- 
tached  on  the  wails  of  wh?ch  th!  ^t- 1?^"'  ^^""^  ^t" 
dead  Pharaoh's  reiVn  LZ^  •    the  chief  events  of  the 
subjects  do  not  SaKe'nf  "^'^•-     '^^'^  ♦^'"bs  «' 
occupied,  as   regads^hePv^r'^'^nt^y  formerly 
paintings  show  Jess  of  the  /.n   'fP"'*^^^"-    Their 
pccupies  a  more  prominent   ni^rJ'^*''  ^"^  •"^''S'^" 
inscriptions.      They  pTct"  "     £     *'"°"fi^  *^^  ^a" 
esting  scenes,  and  a  mo  e  In.rT*'?'  ""^"^  '"t^^- 
of  living.      There   i«s  m      S^"^*?"/  luxurious  style 
and  of  t1,e  dan::?  butTess%?'co"?"^'.v°^  ^-'^ 
welfare  of  the  retainers  of  thl       k",*''^'  '''*^  """^  the 
tombs  are  now  grottoe    Seepry  cut    f  ^.^  ^^^  ^^^-^ 
the  pictures  on  their  walls  are  iw-    "  *!'*'  '°''^'  ^nd 
part  of  their  reigns  bdng  l/f?  S  ST/'  *^"  ^'^*°"^«' 
chapels.      Such    were    the  cM.f    V""^''^^'  ^^'"P'e 
Dynasty  XVIII    which  rnn.i   ^characteristics    of 
235  years,  durh^^g  the  mS""'l-*°  ^^'^^  ^O''  ^bout 
of  the  children  of  IsJreHn '4^""  °'  *'^  ''''^''^'- 

army,  advanced  eastward  .„f    k?  ^  '"^^t  efficient 
all  Syria  up  to  th^EuptaTes  '"rt"^  ^^^"'^'^  -"^ 
new  wealth  flowed  iuto  Stnt "  „I      '■^'"'*  ^^^  that 
great  temples  and  other  DK^h""^;^^'  ^  *=°"«eq"ence. 
at  Thebes  and  elsewhere     Hk  r  "^'"^'  T''^  ^'■^^^ted 
been  less  than   30  yea;s   "^V   «"  *^°"'^  "°t  have 
Thothmes  ^I..  was  a  hS      }^   '^'^'^   of  his  son. 
was  succeeded  by  h?s  queen' H.^r^"*^"'  °"^-     «« 
brother  Thothmes     II^"one  of  ^^P"  *"''  ^^""g^'- 
Egypt,  whose  reign  lasted  for  fc    ^  ^'^^l  '''"&«   of 
re.ga  there  were  nlme^ous  revol  s  J^n'r^r  ^V""^  ^'^ 
t^'bute  on  the  part  of  the  Syr;tlc?nl%":;:.'lVT^^ 


l:l 


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I 


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284    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

s'on^^Jn  """''""^  expeditions  were  undertaken.    His 

Tests  bevondT;  ^""T^^^^  "'  P^^^ed  hi    con- 
2.^!?  n  l^?     •  ^^^  Euphrates,  and  completely  sub 

His  reign  was  most  probably  30  years  in  lenc^l 
He  was  succeeded  by  his  son^-Aothmes  IV   wS 
reign   according  to  Manetho.  lasted  only  9  yea« 
Amenophis   III.  succeeded  his   father     There  pn" 
pear  to  have  been  no  great  revolte    and  duHi?„??" 
long  reign   which  musf  have  extended  to  40  "far!' 
he  occupied  himself  chiefly  with  great  public  works' 
The  next  king  was  Amenophis  IV  who  china^S  S 
name  to  Khunaten.  and  sou^ght  to  r^^^ace te  S^j]^^^ 
rel  gion  of  Egypt  by  a  simpler  form  of  sun  wSn 
but  does  not  appear  to  have  beeTver^  su^cessfS' 

?as  A?  thrhu1f"^.'*7l^"S"°  ^°"-    His  suc'cTs  o; 
was  Ai  the  husband  of  his  eldest  daughter     He  wal 
followed   on  the  throne  by  two  othVr  sons-in-hw 
They  were  succeeded  by  Horns,  who  fully  restored' 
the  ancient  worship  of  the  gods  of  Etrvnf   »n!5  !i 
stroyed  the  monum'ints  of  th^°Sre  ic^ffiate^  at 
XVIir'tri"^-.-  ^'?  i'^  '^'Sn    ended   Dyn^t? 
luiiy  23s  years,  taking  the  lengths  of  the  differ#.nf 
reigns  into  consideration.    During  the  same  peWod  S 
En^ith  i;r  •■"'^••«'J"<^l"ding  Cromwell,  occupied  the 
English  throne  and  several  of  these  only  reiSned  for 
a  few  years.    It  must  also  be  recollected  that  ml„ 
W  longer  in  the  time  of  Dynasty  XVni.  tha^  Zy 

We  now  come  to  Dynasty  XIX    the>  R9»...:.i 
period,  during  which  thekols  took  place   'Se! 
ses  I.  maintained  his  authority  abroad  by  ckmnSTn, 
in  the  south  and  east;  and  concluded  a  treaty  7pefce 
with  the  king  of  the  Hittites,  who  had  arisen  of  recent 


•  f  ,-F ' 


SOJOURN  OF  ISRAEI.  IN  EGYPT     „, 
years  to  be  the  ,»««,•  ^ 

"S-'kort^ignhtTftSc^^r^'V^"'^    After  a 
Rameses  II  tooW  ra„i,     lm*"  '°  Set  I. 

colleague    of'-h^  feth^r^'  :J'tH«"  a  youth,  as  the 
became  sole  king  at  the  a?e  Z^l'^   abdication    he 
reign  had   been  distinguisheH  K  *''"^-three.     Seti's 
and  a  fresh  treaty  vv  th  th.  m.?^  '^''*'"'  "e"'  wars 
•"'ddle  period  Mose     was   h'""^  ^•"^-    About  5 
come  the  adopted  son  of  Th    °™'  V°  a^ervvardr    be- 
of  Rameses.  £ho  In   this   nr;;?-5"^^'>' .^^e  »»aif-s.ster 
the  protector  of  the  mil  P^P^'^^ntial  way  became 
he  deliverer  and  lawg^er  ofThe^R  ^K  '^^  ^o^  *«  be 
statue  of  Rameses.  now  at  T.   •"^^''^'^  ^^^e.    The 
some  years  ago,  a  non^  thJ"""'  ^^  discovered 
Raraeses-Tanis  i;  the  LJ     /"^"'  °^  ^^^  city  of 
file  of  the  face  has  a   Rn    °^  ^°^^<^n-    The  pro 
'nouth  and  chin,  and  W^^"  "°'*^'  ^  "^ell-forSed 
J'n'nently  a  handsome  Se^?S"?"&  ^>'^«-     I^^s 
born  to  high  command.    H'is^iL*^*^  ^°ok  of  one 
organised,  and  his  cavalAr  ani     ^^  ^^^  splendidly 
'"existence.     During  t?eS?stThl'"°*^  '^'  fin^t 
Jong  reign  his  victorifs  extennL  ^"^  ^^^^  of  his 
even  to  Scythia  and  Indfa  "d  u'"  ^""'P"  '^'''^^'^^oi! 
tribute  paid  him  by  conauer^  i    "  ^^^^^^  ^om  the 
great  that  two  treasuVcS' wh.  "^•'°"^  ''^^^me  so 
safely  guarded,  had  to  be  b^jT.  f '^  u-  ''^"'^  ^e  more 
part  of  his  reign  appeals  to  1/°'  J'""'    ^^e  latter 
by  any  great  wars;  ^KsoLh   \^-^^"  ""disturbed 
him  in  the  governm^nf  f*^°*='?tmg  his  e  destson  with 

devoted  hif  °aSoTto°  tSe° V'^'f  P"''''^  ^^^^^rsThe 
vast  buildings,  the  rSin°  of  wWc^'^'^i^"  °^  *h'ose 
throughout  Egypt  and  Nuh.-.  ^"^  ^°""d  to-day 
the  foremost  |lace  alnf  th'e'alh".^''^  ^'^^  ^^ 
His  son  and  colleague  d"ed  ?n  th/?rlf^^i.  Pharaohs. 
h«?  reign;  and  MeneoLh  iS.  "^  fifty-fifth  year  of 
ra«ed  to  the  vacl\"S'on  whTh  h  "'^'"'^^  ^°"  ^'a* 

-  the  icing  Who  souSSf  ^'^^^^^ul 


if 


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lilil 


iif 


i  ? 


31 


2S6    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE, 
ha  MX  tte.  ,TonS_  :-^^^n 

ivieneptah  I.     In  ancient  Effvpt  sun-drieH  hr,vU  ir 

men.    The  Egyptians  having  no  need  of  farm  vJ5 

addr«„„.,  pu„ishme„.f ^o^VITaJ'S?;  bri* 
makers  to  gather  it  for  themselves.  Ptoures  or,  fh- 
temple  walls  at  Karnalt  and  elsewhere"po"tov  fte 

have  been  very  severe      An    L^^?^  ^^^  *°'l  """st 
nf  a  r^Jl       ^  severe.     An  old  writing,  on  the  back 

c:.-^^Sir&srf-/d*d%f r,  t^ 

their  number  of  bricks  each  day^.    They  are  not  to 


SOJOURN  OF  ISRAPr    rxr 

ibRAEL  IN  EGYPT     28, 
relax  their  tasks  at  tu  ^ 

obey  the  commSd  Lt'  Z\^°'''''-    ^t  is  thus  I 
moreover  a   striking S    f„ ''^  "^ '"^^ter."    It  ii 
Mosaic  narrative  thit  »  i    '"  connection  with  thl 
constructions  orRameses?''^"  P"*^  °<'  the  ^rdinaJj 
^  seen  to  this  day  Tnth;""''"  °^^""-*^"«d^^^^^^^^ 
their  ruins.    Laree  nuL?*^  '"^""ds  which  coS 
mixed  -.vith  stTaw  aSrf      I  *"'  °^  ^^"e  bricks    so- j 
remains  of  the  cL^all^fn'''  '""^'^  withiut 'it  T 
or  Rameses-Tani?     I'  m^'"  "'^'■''  the  site  of  7o. 
bricks  in  B^abZia,  ^i™"-  to   the  same  dasf  ^f 
stamped  with  the  name  „r  .1'"^' •^"  ^"""^^  were  aU 
time  of  their  manu?acTure I't'^Tl ""^  h^nce'tj^ 
There  cannot  be  the  Xhf    f*'?^'^  beyond  disDute 
made  by  the  Hebrews  un?''  1°"*'*  ^h^t  theyTere 

who  d.H  *'V°'"  *he  purpose  of  be-  ^?u  ^'  ^'"^^^ 
mercenaries  draw^J^m  Vb^l^' who^  ^T  °^  '-S" 
of  workmen      AM       °  P^n'shed  the  wretchifrf  1 ' 

them  as  he  Pleased  without  tn.°".'^'  *'°"^^    oppress 
B'ble  statement  that  Ae  h.k^  "'H.*°  himself.^^The 

meiT"'-^  <=•««  Pithom^atd^Ra '""^  '?•■  ^harloh 
rated  by  contemporary  documentf^i"   "  *=°'-'-°bo- 

which  are  under  the  char^of  Ami  ^°''^'  ""^  ^mon. 
of  the  Mazai.  I  mVe  tL  Ameneman,  the  chief 
according  to  your  insect  on?"  'ZZ  '''^   ^^ 'h 

ons.      Another  document 


ii-n 


iUl 


-J, , 
■ii-  -. 

.j  I  ■ 


''..If 


288    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

from  a  scribe  to  his  superior  Hiu,  a  high  official  of 
Kameses  II.,  says,  "I  have  obeyed  your  command  to 
give  provisions  to  the   Egyptian  soldiers,  and   also 
to  the  Hebrews  who  transport  the  stones  for  the  sun 
temple  of  Rameses  Miamun,  in  the  southern  part  of 
Memphis       An  inscription  of  the  period  shows  the 
nature  of  this  task.    "  It  is  very  hard."  it  states,  "  to 
nriake  the  smooth  road  on  which  the  colossus  is  to 
slide  along,  but  how  unspeakably  harder  to  drag  the 
huge  mass  like  beasts  of  burden.    The  arms  o!  the 
workman  are  utterly  worn  out    His  food  is  a  mixture 
Of  all  things  vile:    he  can  wash  himself  only  once 
ma  season.    But  that  which  above  all  is  wretched,  is 
rf^-  .!'^*^  *o  drag,  for  a  month  together,  over  the 
soft  yielding  soil  of  the  gardens  of  a  mansion,  a  huge 
block  of  stone  ten  cubits  by  six." »    During  these 
operations  the  overseer  with   his   stick  was   rarely 
absent.    Among  the  wall  pictures  at  Beni  Hassan 
workmen  are  represented  as  being  beaten  with  short 
sticks,  which  differed  from  the  long  rods  of  office 
and  were  used  solely  to  bastinado  the  unfortunate 
labourers.    Some  of  these  are  seen  lying  naked  on 
the  ground;  two  men  holding  the  arms  and  another 
the  feet,  while  the  taskmaster  showers  blows  on  the 
exposed    body.     There  is  also  a  picture  at  Beni 
Hassan  where  a  woman  is  being  thus  beaten.     How 
the  Hebrews  must  have  suffered  in  other  respects,  in 
common,  however,  with  the  native  cultivators  of  the 
soil,  may  be  gathered  from  an  existing  letter  of  the 
period,  which  tells  how  the  tax-collector  arrives  in 
his  barge,  at  the  wharf  of  the  district,  to  receive  the 
government  share  of  the  crops.    His  negroes,  armed 
with  batons  of  palm-wood,  cry  out  where 's  your 
wheat?    There  is  no  way  of  checking  their  exactions. 
It  they  are  not  satisfied  they  seize  the  poor  wretch 
bind  him,  drag  him  off  to  the  canal  near  at  hand! 
and  throw  him  into  the  water  head  first    His  wife 


SO/OURN  OF  ISRAEL  IN  EGYPT.    ,89 
rnS  iVr^T''  *"'  '""^  »"^  '^^  children  carried  off 

been  a  wretch?3Tne  in  E^nTr  '°  ^^^  »^«'V«' 
Dynasty  XVIII.  to  our  "wnS '.„  T-  ?^  P*"°^  °f 
amelioration  has  bceJ  d^e  lo^p^^t'l*" '**  «^«"t"al 
political  skill.  The  Hebrew,  h"'"'^  humanity  and 
a  long  period  occupied  a  ru;^K*!r*'"'  «""'*  ^a^^for 
than  th?  native  lowS  clashes  wf"''  1°"'"'  P°«'»'°n 
into  the  country  thevno«  ^  ^''^"  ^^^^^  ^rst  came 
as  well  as  mu7h  oK  Sh   T/°''^'  ""^  ^"^'^ 

favour  ofthePharaSi  must  haVebtn^"'*  ^'■°'"  ^''^^ 
regarded   with  no  smaU  t«„  ^^      •     consequently 

when  the  Exodus  fin^Sv  tool  "^f^^'^."-  ^"^  ^ven 
immense  amounrof  peS^S."".  '^"r  «rried  an 
the  large  donations  th^ersubseoue"^^  ""'?  r^"""'  ^ 
lous  purposes  prove  In  3  *i^  ""^^^  ^°''  f«hg- 
were  permitted  to  take  for  111  "r^^*^  P^>""^"'  they 
the  crown  and  the  nobi%  Tthe  lanr'  If  °";  '°' 
of  articles  borrowed  from  *l  ,^'  '"  *he  shape 

added  to  their  rkhes  So  dn.r."''^'"'"  Egyptians, 
residence  in  the  land' of  Pol*'  *''°'  *^^'^  J°ng 
extent  from  the  natS^e  inhStaJS  S"  '°  ^  '^'^^ 
from  many  public  exact  onfij.'*"^*^  ^^^^'^  them 
degree  of  personal  S^f/t^' i^"f'^ft.th  greater 

they  were  {.ever  ^ry  Sv  oV  *'"'*i  *^'^*^"'  that 
ses  II.  came  to  Uve  f monL?T"'**^  ""*"  ^^'^e- 
-hen  they  were  ironcTSXht  t'de'r'  h^^^"""^^"-' 
observat.on,  and  into  imr^^'Z:^  P?^'^ 

mi^°o7^t^p:;^L^7^^^^^^^^^^  ''"gepyra- 

SC^S^^tS^^ShSff  ^^ 

caused  a  cry  of  bittw  !_     ■  t    °'  "■"'  P'riod.  and 
f"  ages.  ,r,rirrverT"L^  °?,?  ''P"""  - 

SU,„«  of  Cheops,  broken  t.'d^L<S:/S/C 
!«.»"»«•.  Hfa.  rf  .he  Orf»,,  Vol  ,.  p. ,,, 


■  (     * 

<^^l 

f  -■ 

Vi 

iMi 

i;  : 


290    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

discovered  in  deep  wells  near  the  temple  of  the 
Sphinx,  where  they  had  been  ignominiously  thrown 
during  aome  popular   rising   against  his   tyranny. 
During  the  dynasties  of  the  Shepherd  Kingi.  when 
the  masseF  appear  to  have  been  treated  with  more 
humanity  and  consideration  than  they  were  after- 
wards, the  hard  lot  of  the  poorer  classes  of  Ecypt 
was  somewhat  ameliorated.    But  their  ancient  oS- 
pressed  condition  came  back  to  them  again  with  the 
?v?n  *'°Tu''^  their  priest-kings  to  power  in  Dynasty 
XVIII.    They  shrank  once  more  from  the  stick  of 
the  taskmaster,  and  had  to  toil  from  morning  to 
night  to  win  a  meagre  support  for  their  families  and 
themselves.    A  letter  of  this  period  from  a  scribe  to 
his  son,  advising  him  to  follow  learning  rather  than  a 
trade    paints  the  conditions  of  the  blacksmith,  the 
metal-worker,  the  stone-cutter,  the  quarry-man,  the 
maker  of  arms,  the  currier,  the  dyer,  and  the  shoe- 
maker  as  alike  to  be  pitied.^    Ebers  has  given  us 
,  graphic  sketch  of  a  crowd  of  humanity  at  Thebes, 
n  the  time  of  Moses,  which  corroborates  the  paternal 
letter  of  the  scribe.    "Long  files  of  bondnien  and 

weight  of  heavy  burdens,  passed  here  and  there,  or 
dragged,  by  ropes  attached  to  sledges,  huge  blocks 
of  stone  which  had  come  from  the  quarries  of  Chennu 
and  Suan  to  the  site  of  some  new  temple.  AU 
these  working  men  were  driven  with  sticks  by  their 
overseers.  Thick  clouds  of  gnats  followed  these  tor- 
mented  gangs,  who  with  dull  and  spirit-broken  en- 
t'^A^Iu^  suffered  alike  from  the  stings  of  the  insects 
and  the  blows  of  their  drivers.  When  the  reader 
recollects  that  these  wretched  human  beings  were, 
with  the  exception  of  the  breech-clout,  wholly  naked 
and  exposed  to  the  rays  of  a  burning  eastern  sun 
some  idea  may  be  formed  of  their  sufferings."  » 

While  all  this  human  misery  abounded  amone  the 
lower  strata  of  the  Egyptian  population,  it   Sever 


1  Maspero,  p.  123. 


•  Uarda.  Vol.  I.  p.  6i. 


SOJOURN  OF  ISRAEL  IN  EGYPT,    an. 

caused  Rameses  II.  to  cease  for  , 
prosecution  of  his  num*r^!!^     I-  *  "noment  in  the 
local  enterprises  "  "jheVe  ?,  !!S*^J*"*"'i  «"^  oth" 
ruin  in  Egjpt  or  Nubia  th.f^''   **>"  Mariette,  ••  a 

either  as  the  or^inato?^;rtJir°^'  1°*  ''"'■  ^"  "«'»«. 
two  grand  temples  at  loAmi^T?*?'-  "«  "wted 
temple  of  AmeShotcp  iffTt'xhebil''^'^  *^*  ^reat 
provements  at  the  temnU  e  a'  *"*^  ""ade  im- 
Every„^here.  all  through  t^he  lai/'"^"  i"  Karnalc. 
of  Sinai,  similar  memorial  i..  '  *"'l  *'  ^''^  '"'"es 

Goshen,  he  restored  and  beauS'';K  '"  **>*  '*"d  of 
Zoan-Tanis  neglected  bvth^'        *^^  ^**t  temple  of 

XVIII..  the  cit?  iSf  b^ng  wen  S^"k°^,  ^>'"*»t>' 
»ng  a  magnificent  oalacl  f J  i'^'?, ''**'"•'*'  '"clud- 
towns.  du|  canak   wd  fill^H  ?i!'"?'^.  "«^  founded 
sphinxes,  statues    aS3  nfl"^  **  '^"^  ^'th  colossi. 
Of  the  thirty!So  o^Ls  rhir"'?'^"*?'  "*«tion 
or  elsewhere.  twentytinrV^e  i^  '^"V",  ^^^Pt 
part  due  to  him  ■  ii^lfZl      .*^*'  '°  whole  or  in 
still  remain  in  Se  ru"ns  of  Tif  K^'^ht  temples  which 
which  he  did  not  comowJ  *'^"'  *.^"*  »  o"!/  one 
also  erected,  fo?  a  See' ?  n  ""^'""'^  ^""d'    He 
chain  of  fortifications    alon/  T  ''"?*^'"*^  '"""•  « 
frontier  of  Egypt,  to  defend.?/       ?*"■«  northeast 

of  the  SyriaS;7nd  Arabs     cS?.T  '"J-^'tf  '"^*»'°"» 
dangered  bv  th*.  t«.,Ci     •       r'*'**  which  were  en- 

protected  5^hVeartS;nrif'*'°"^.  l^  ^'  Nife  1" 
the  entire  region  beti,^J;M^"V.?"*^  ^^  intersected 
irrigation  caS.  so  wS^^^J^^'^n'"'' ^''^  ^*^*  ^'»^ 
became  henceforih  imoractlr^M  r""*""**"''  that  it 
chariots,  for  wSchTTad  before '"k'*^"'''>'  °'  ^^^ 

adapted."    Herodotus  further teSust^t h"'P'''>">' 
off  m  square  b]ock<s  fh«  uj    1?    *' that  he  marked 

p.  IJ.-"-  «■"■  S-.  V„,.  ,.  p.  ,^.   o.^„,  ,„^  ^  ^__ 


(^  1 


f' 

^^^^^^1 

•1 

1! 

1 

1  ■» 

[^W^^^^^^Bi 

H 

'  it 

1 

^it 

■   f  i 

1 

■  s 

1 

292    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

better  classes  of  his  countrymen,  and  by  contempo- 
rary sovereigns,  we  have  evidence  in  a  fetter  of  that 
period,  which  has  fortunately  been  preserved.    "  His 

built  for  himself  a  town  named  Rameses.    It  lies  be- 

fnoH "  ^?'"*'"'  *"**  ^F£*'  '"^  ^t^O'^nd'  in  delicious 
Tu  u  V  ".*  .?f*=°"'*  Hermouthis,  (a  suburb  of 
Thebes.)  and  will  endure  as  long  as  Memphis.  The 
sun  rises  and  sets  on  it.  Every  one  leaves  his  own 
town  to  settle  in  its  district.  Tht  fishermen  of  the 
fS.     X?  '*f-^^'  """^  ^^^'  ^"^  th«  tribute  of  their 

oil  on  th Jfr  K  !?"'  ^I"""  ^"'^'  '°^^'  *'*»»  Perfumed 
on  on  their  heads,  and  new  wigs:  they  stand  at  their 

toTo?T'S'!l^*"'*-r^"  ^^'"^"^hes  from  the 
town  of  Pa  Hathor  — garlands  from  the  town  of 
Pahour,  on  the  day  of  Pharaoh's  coming.    Joy  reigns 

Jul?'"?  r**'°".*  ^""^^  Rameses  Miamun,  life 
health  and  strength  to  him;  he  is  the  god  Moit  of 

Slw)'°.K^^,P''  '"r^S  'P"^^=  ^^^  «""  of  kings  2 
ruler;  the  gloiy  of  Egypt;  the  friend  of  Turn  as 
general.  All  the  earth  comes  to  him.  The  ereat 
t^"h^i.°fr^  ""^^^^  (the  Hittites)  scndsTiis  meLe'nge 
L  f  II  °'tP""'=!  °f  ^*^"^  <°n  th«  Orontes)  sly- 
ing,  if  thou  be  ready  let  us  set  out  for  Egypt,  for  the 
words  of  the  god  Rameses  are  fulfilling  themselves 
Let  us  pay  our  court  to  him  at  Tanis.  for  he  gives 
health  to  him  whom  he  loves,  and  by  him  all  the 

ffil",   '^'1   ^*? '  °.'  ^""^'^^  '^"ked  next  to 
Frn m  ,'       v}^^  estimation  of  its  second  founder. 

Ire^  l^.'i'*-*'^-  P°'"'  °^  ^•*^«'  •*  ^««  *  portion  of 
m  rrh  f   *^v    «mportance.     Rameses  could  easily 

S^a,  IT  "  •-?*'""'  ^"y  °^  *»'■«  Asiatic  tributarJr 
kings  and  as  it  was  near  the  frontier,  it  was  the 
frnl^hr  of  great  importance  to  welcome  him  home 
from  his  wars.  Hence  it  became  his  most  favoured 
residence.  Connected  with  the  sea  by  the  Tankic 
branch  of  the  Nile,  then  broad  and  navigable,  it  a^lo 
commanded  the  entrance  to  the  great  flrtifi;d  road 

^  Records  of  the  Past,  Vol  I.  pp.  6, 8. 


I  I 


SOJOURN  OF  ISRAEL  IN  EGYPT. 


«il.wj' t?  ;?  E^V^^Y;  •"  »^^  ^""«»t  sense,  th! 
««»ons  that  R««Sf  tran,fcr?J  K*?^*^"*  ^^^  »h«»J 
pat  y  strengthened  its  fortifirl?  **'*  '""'^  thither, 
6u.lt  it  on  ali,uch  gri^derl,!?*^^^^^^  *"^  ^''"ost  re-' 
the  height  of  its  glory    Lm.    ^'^  '^"""V.     At 
countless  statues.  oEk,  anif   ^  "^  '*•  ^th  its 
pat  temple  and  maScJ;?  r'^^t  •monuments,  its 
have  been  most  imSTiJ7„*^  P^'*"'  '»  ">"»t 
JL"««  in   the  midst  of  SirHil^™"^*"'-    It  had 
Goshen,  like  an  enchanted  dtvb„rj  P*^P"'«tion  of 
of  a  vast  amount  of  suffering^    "*  *'  *  *=°"  »«  them 

th(aot  je^^^^^^^^^  ".  occupied 

just  as  the  ifoman  Emmre  dW  .?'°"*  °f  *^*^  ^^^^h. 
lost  nothing  of  its  vaS%o%er  a^^'^'^i*  '*  had 
Meneptah  ascended  the  throni  "*  ?Plendour  when 
father,  whose  policy  of  !n!?J^T'.  °"  *he  death  of  his 
continued,  /he  forced  "^u  oWS^"*  ^^^  ««" 
thercforestillanecessity-  and  A./.  **"*  "'•'^'^^^  ^^ 

deplorable'^con'jj,^^^^^^^^^ 

by  reason  ofihe  bondaJ'^L^^^^^^^^^^  « 

cjycame  up  unto  God!  Vrelon'i^J'.^d.  and  ^-" 
The  day  of  their  delivery  from ^i  °^  *^*  bondage." 
at  hand;  and  GodrchosenTn!  ''*''>' ^**  "^^^  ^Jose 
already  been  prepared  for  ">i       "'"*"*'  ^°^"'  had 

most  providenS^P^d  remarkabferP'"'''"^"*'  '"  ' 
How  briefly  anrf  m«/^^  °'*  manner. 

tell  us  the  stoVof  Ws  bSS'  fnH%?"  ^'^^*  '^^^iver 
of  his  life.  His  father  Jn?'  *?  *^^  ^^'^'^'-  fortunes 
the  tribe  of  Levi     and  h.  "'°^^''  ^^^'^  belonged  to 

-mmand  of  Set"  to'dls'^yX'Se^h'IS  '''' 7^^ 
Hebrews,  was  still  in  force      h!  J^       children  of  the 

-«  ."  order  .o  save  ^i^  ?i  Z,%.'^1^''^ 

*  Brugsch,  Vol.  II,  p.  9^ 


♦    ^ 


1 


i.  « 


394    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

three  monthf.  When  concealment  wm  no  loneer 
poMible,  .he  pUced  her  little  son  in  an  ark  of  bS! 
mhe.    and   laid    it    in   the   flag.,  most  probably 

t^e^^'jl'.M'  "^^  '^^t  ?'•  •^»»«'  Mirifm.  then 
rZZ  Z  '*••  '^'*  ••." '  >y  ^«  "Other  to  watch  the 
rcwlt  It  wa.  a  wonderfuily  providential  one.  The 
child  wa.  found  by  Pharaoh^,  daughter,  Thermouthi.i 
as  Josephus   tells  us.  the  half-sister   of  Ramese, 

'•ASrlhe^^X'rK^  brought  up  as  her  J^'i": 

And  she  called  his  name  Moses,  and  she  said, 

Because  I  drew  him  out  of  the  water."    Nor  in  his 

new  environments  was  the  child  lost  to  his  natural 

I.  iu  !'        •  "!? ^!''  ""^  •Ppointed  by  Thermouthis 

as  h  s  nurse;  and  despite  his  subsequent  fortunate 

relations  to  Pharaoh's  daughter,  and  Jis  "ife  am"d  ^1 

the  splendouni  of  a  roval  palace,  he  appears  to  have 

remained  in  close  touch  with  his  own  family,  and  to  be 

deeply  concerned  for  the  altered  fortunes  of   his 

people.    He  tells  us  nothing  as  to  how  he  was  broueht 

up,  or  of  his  moral  or  physical  training.    But  there  is 

not  the  slightest  doubt  that  he  had  all  the  education^ 

advantages  possible,  and  that  his  great  ability  en- 

*A  ^   M  ^  ?,'°^^  by  them  to  the  fullest  extent* 

And   Moscs.^'  says   St.   Stephen,   (Acts  vii.   22  ■> 

was  earned  in  all  the  wisdom*^  of  the  Egyptians,  and 

was  m.ghty  in  words  and  in  deeds.    And  when  he  wm 

full  lorty  years  old  it  came  into  his  heart  to  visit 

his  brethren,  the  children  of  Israel.    And  seeing 

one  of  them  suffer  wrong,  he  defended  and  avenged 

him  that  was  oppressed,  and  smote  the  Egyptian  " 

SIh  «"??? ""t""  "'^'*.  P'^^^^'y  *°°'«  P»a«  'n  the 
land  of  Goshen,  and   m  the  neighbourhood  of  the 

I7he  Lilt?  ^J^r ""''  ^•■J'"'''  ^  Zoan  had  come 
to  be  called.  If  Rameses  11.  was  about  one  hundred 
yeare  of  age  when  he  died,  some  forty  years  after- 
wards, he  was  then  sixty  years  old,  and  had  reigned 
for  twenty-nme  years.  All  his  great  victories  in  war 
had  been  probably  won  by  this  time,  and  he  stood  at 

»  Antiquities  of  the  Jewi,  Book  11.  Chap.  IX.  p.  69 


SOJOURN  OF  ISRAEL  IN  EGYPT.    ^5 

coMideration;  and  as  Mo.*,  KTk-*°"l' '■"'««"<' 

hi.  sympathy^  th"iicrew.\hl'ph*"^'^^^^^ 
•aw  fit  to  oppress  in  the  Hirli        "  Pharaoh  then 

garded  a.  nSt*^  onfy  guilty  ^1  h^^^'^J^K""^  '^■ 
at  a  rebel  against  hfswverdir;  *»°,7"="*'''  ^ut  also 
Josephu.  that  Moses  LHreadv  risen?  5f"  ^'^^^ 
a  general  in  the  Egyptian  aImv/„J"  ^fu***'  ""•*  ^^ 
had  won  great  victoriei  o?er  Jh.  P»i"  ***•*'  ^'P'^'^^ 
wet  II..  who  must  have  been  wSf  ^^'^'PP'*".'  Ram- 
origin  and  adopt  on  by  h?s  s^str'^S"*!?!^  '*"?  »"■* 
more  ready  to  decree  his  Ui?' ^.2"'"*  ^  *"  *he 

he  was  dangerous  to  the  state  a^H  *•*•  P""^  *''«' 
incite  his  Hebrew  brethr*.n  ♦!'  ^**  ""«''*  probably 

some  mean.  MoJe,  Ke  aware^S??^'****"'^^-  ^^ 
which  threatened  h^m  anHui^*''/''*^  P"***  danger 
Pharaoh."    Knowl„r;K  ^^'^  '^'°'n  the  face  of 

tion  he  betook  Zff^r'^Tl'^'^'V''  '^^-y  ^''«°- 
the  southern  part  o7  the  ^l^JJ'^r  §f«thought.  to 
tainous  trianSe  of  mo~^?  '*  °^  ^'"*"'  *  moun- 
The  north  of  Lpe"n^7ula  was' JJlH^nJ"  ^^th. 
kites,  but  the  southern  DirtSi"*  l^^  ^^'^  ^'"a'«- 
tribe  of  MIdian.  knowJ  f,  5,  '**'?"8«d  *<>  the  great 
of  Abraham  through  Ket"  ah'  \TV'  ^^^"^""ts 

mon  ancestor  would  naturaHy  lecure  "thi'^^  "•°'"- 
a  hearty  reception  from  fh^  i  »u  ^.*he  fugitive 
the   tribe.   wEose   n?2       ^'^1'°'  °'  ^""^^  mfn  of 

who  did  no    recoen?se  gnT-^  *  P*"J°'^'   "^^e 

any  great  extent?fnd  in  f^Strict' nof ''  '•?      "^  *° 
sible.  Moses  was  now  safe  fi-n™  *l    j  °*  ^"''^  *<=ces- 

'  """'""^  °"l»  J™.  B«.k  II.  Chv.  X.  p.  „ 


i 


'J 


'!!} 


!    i  1 


f  ■  t 


^li 


296    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

in  his  fortunes  had  su^den^Jaken  oul/f  Th^*"^* 
of  Pharaoh's  daughter;  tSe"^ man  "e?  „'S ' i„  afl  ?he 
wisdom  of  the  Egyptians;  the  brilliant  retainer  of 
nen^ToV"*"""'^  '"  existence;  the  associate  an^the 
fr  end  of  princes,  was  bereft  of  all  his  dignities -of 

a    imprshete  °'f  "^^^^  '"  '''''  *"^  ^^^  become 
h.f3i %  if-P      r •     f  °''  ^""^  y^*"  he  followed  this 
humble  calhng,  for  he  dare  not  leave  his  conceal 
ment    while   the    implacable    Rameses    hved      tJI 

^?m  nenttteS  H  ''  -/^  "-Tf'hisTS^ 

bTngWo^tS^;^^^^^^^^^^ 

simple  enrjployment  gave  him  ample  Se  for  the 

most  profound  reflection,  and  that  ment^  and  relig! 

lous  trammg  necessary  to  fit  him  for  the  great  oos? 

tion  he  was  afterwards  destined  to  fill,  as  the  foremo^; 

lawgiver  and  leader  that  the  world  has  ever  kSown 

The  emmently  successful  manner  in  which?at  a  ?aTe; 

penod    he  performed  these  duties,  hi  won  for  hm 

not  only  ..^.e  gratitude  of  the  Hebrew  race  for  S 

Tn   monf  °  ?"'  °^  '^'  ^h°'^  Christian  worid. 
In   modern    times    trave  ler    after    travellir    ho- 

explored  the  Desert  of  Sinai,  and  we  now  posses 
various  eloquent  descriptions  of  its  varied  and  won 
derful  scenery.    The  white  limestone  of  Palestine  Tnd" 
of  the  wilderness   to  the   south,   extends    nto  the 
northern  part  of  the  desert.    Beyond  this    fartSr 
south  rise  hills  of  sandstone,  usually  on^of  moderate 

woflS^?*  ''"^"'"'/  ^'°*"*1"«^  in  shapl  anTS^tS  a 
wonderful  variety  of  splendour  and  cobur  These 
hills  presently  give  way  to  the  mountains  of  Sinaf 
vast  masses  of  primitive  rock,  which  fill  ip^e  rower 

to  over^^L^Pirfr'n''  "t?/""  their  highest  summl 
to  over  a  mile  and  a  half  above  the  sea.    Their 
granite  porphyry,  mica-schist.  and  greenstone  shaft 
pinnacles,  and  buttresses,  have  towered  upwards  f?om 
the  Beginning  of  Things,  and  have  always  stood  a^ 


SOJOURN  OF  ISRAEL  IK  EGVPT     ,„ 

to  be  clothed  wff  a  |arm°     7^?°^  *'^«  beholder 
diverBifiedandluxur4t1„7r.H°^  P'^"'-^'*"^'  «*  once 
the  ejects  of  ligh^and  shaJe  in  ?ST'     ^"  "'^^'*'°"' 
under  the  deep  blue  eastern  11,    u  '^'^  P"""*^  """'  and 
able  beauty  of  their  JwnTcIl^'  ^T  ^"  'ndescrib- 
with  chameleon  suddenrs'sthrn"^  '^^".Se.  at  times. 
of  primal  colours!  frorS.„H;?"^K?"  *^^  gradations 
violet     Huge  wa  Is  o?  rock  wfth^'^J*"  *°  the  deepest 
here  and  there  to-er  udS«  k     *  ^'i^*'"  shimmer, 
uncouth  wild  era      eSe  fhe^^'l  *"''  threatening 
mounds  of  black  and  K?«    *'*!'"selves  steeply  above 

they  had  been  broKn  bX  l'^^""''  ^'^'^'^  '°°k  asTf 
nature  wears  an  asoectnf        ""'"^"  ^'^  Titans ;  and 

dcur.  As  eac^neTfeve?  sTiU^i  'T'^'  ^-n- 
mountains  rise  in  huL  llfS^!  ^^  ^^^  traveller, 
presently  shrink  almost  fn^n  *  ^''^  ^'■^""'^  him,  to 
more  terrific  mounS  wh?c?eTv"'''  l'"^^^  ^'^^  ^«" 
plateau.    "  Were  I  TnliZJ^  "'^"^"  ^^^  succeeding 

I  have  illusVra  ed   D^ame's'' InT^  ^^'v'"^'  "^"^  <=o"ld 
planted  mvcamn^f«!.iu         inferno,   I  would    have 

book,  fo"s??u'r;iorb;i^^^^^^    '"y^'^'^h 

the  dark  abyss  of  the  Rt  l/n  J      '"^  *°  *^«  ""'ner  of 

immeasurably  sad  unuS^  S^PJ^  ''''^''  ^^^^'hly. 

grand  and  awful."  i^    "*^'  unapproachably 
Although  in  Moses'  day  the  wl,«i«  c-     •  • 

sula  was  much  less  barren  rtan  it  Un    ^'"*'*'*=  P*^"'"' 
here  and  there,  with  evt^-n^?     r     "°'^'  ^^  covered, 
had  a  much  betTisuDDlv  o^f '^^T*'' ""^  *'^"«f°'-« 
pen  fields  and  r  ch  Je^i^t  0^7^'*'"'  "^^  ^^e 
have  seemed  to  him  to  be  a  lanS  of^^^'  "  '""'' 
desolation.      But    eraduall!  ,h        ',°J  ^''"°'^t  utter 
beauties  of  this  wSfu^^^^t %""•?, '"^   ^"bJ'""^ 
must  have  exercised  a  potent^.L'"v     ^"^^erness, 
on  a  highly  educated%^nrgV^"d'SjT4'-n^- 
»  Uarda.  Vol.  I.  pp.  ,^e,  25,. 


m 


\"  i\  i 


i  ill 


298    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

led  him  to  form  loftier  conceptions  of  its  Creator 
No  doubt,  as  years  passed  away,  he  made  himself 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  whole  region,  with 
Its  population  and  natural  resources,  and  thus  became 
eminently  fitted  to  guide  the  Hebrew  host  of  fugitives 
Oirough  it  afterwards.    The  solitary  man,  impelled 
by  a  feelmg  of  curiosity,  and  that  desire  to  see  the 
wonderful  so  deeply  implanted  in  the  bosoms  of  all 
our  race,  would  naturally  ascend  to  every  vantage 
point  that  commanded  a  wide  view  of  the  landscape 
beneath.     Standing  on  the  top  of  Jebel  Musa  (the 
mount  of  Moses),  what  a  vast  and  wonderful  pano- 
rama would   unfold  itself  to  his  gaze.     A  glance 
beneath  his  feet  would  show  him  an  abyss  of  the 
most  terrific  depth.    Around  him,  in  every  direction 
grouped  m  the  wildest  confusion  of  position,  lay 
countless  rock  pinnacles  and  peaks,  cliffs  and  preci- 
pices, white  and  grey,  sulphurous  yellow,  blood  red 
and  black  entirely  bare  of  vegetation.    To  the  north, 
the  desert  of  the  Tih  stretched  out,  beyond  the  vast 
mountain  ranges,  in  endless  perspective.    On  the 
eastward  and  westward  the  blue  sea  shimmered,  like 
molten  glass,  under  the  bright  rays  of  the  morning 
i""u.  ^^y°"<^  •*  spread  out  the  pale  sand  plains  of 
Arabia,  while  in  another  direction  the  mountains  of 
tgypt  were  dimly  visible. 

Such  a  scene  was  eminently  fitted  to  inspire  in  a 
lofty  and  spiritual  nature,  like  that  of  Moses,  the 
deepest  and  most  solemn  emotions.  Undisturbed 
and  unmfluenced  by  the  outside  world,  his  mind 
must  have  naturally  followed  out  every  train  of 
thought  to  the  end,  and  exhausted  every  feeling 
and  emotion.  The  solemn  stillness  of  mountain  and 
valley,  the  boundless  sweep  of  the  daily  and  nightly 
heavens,  would  almost  efface  his  human  identity,  and 
till  his  soul  instead  with  the  majesty  of  God.  In  this 
grand  temple  of  the  mountainous  desert,  unknow- 
ingly waiting  the  time  when  the  advancing  purposes 
of  Jehovah  had  ripened  Israel  for  the  great  movement 


,n 


t    4' 


-     -I 


?  - 


SOJOURN  OF  ISRAEL  IN  EGYPT.    399 
of  deliverance  from  the  house  of  bondage  and  mean 

of  his  l^e  N^^^K?^^"^  ^°'*r  y^=^'  °f  »he  prime 
Mim  \«!i  ?  •  *^°4'*  "^"""e  these  long  years  of 
mt^  ?^H'r°*''"'  '■'^"'*'°"'  ^'  ^°"ld  often  call  to 
r„H  .?^i  promises  as  regards  his  chosen  people 
and  consider  well  the  best  methods  of  procedure 
for  their  future  guidance  and  welfare.  B^ut  above 
all  other  considerations  his  own  soul  must  have 
from  S"^"^  M^  disciplined  and  purified  by  i  olatbn 
from  the  world,  and  closer  and  mure  continual  com- 
munion with  God.     His  education,  as  a  grei  law^ 

f^urt  of  RameTs  If'"'  "^^  'l?^"  ^'  th^brilHa^t 
S^J«  orL  T*"  ?••  ^'"°"S  *"  the  literary  advan- 
Sfted  J^  7hf°""  °i  *""'"";  ^gyP*'  «"d  finally  com- 
S  ;»,.   -^  r^^'dence  of  God.  in  the  solitude  and 

r iJJe'ittfliS."'^"^  °'  *'^  '"°""^'"  ^-p'-  °' 


^1  ■■ 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  HEBREW  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT. 

Of  the  histoiy  of  the  Hebrews  in  Egypt,  durine  the 
first  three  centuries  of  the  Sojourn,^  have  onW  « 
few  bnef  and  fragmentaryr  notick  ThThM^l  na Ja 
tive  however  throws  a  good  deal  of  light  on  Se  fn^X 
century  of  that  ^riod ;  Ind  the  numirfus  mo^u^ienS 
mscnptions  of  Rameses  II.  make  important  SoS 
to  our  stock  of  historical  information     From  the  S 

,Wr!,^""  *^**  "°*^'"S  •■'  »*'d  of  tents.  inTeDiviie 
instructions  as  regards  the  celebration  of  the  Pass- 
over, and  houses  are  alone  spoken  of,  (Exodus  xH  Si 
is  quite  evident  that  tent-life  had  long  beenSdoned 
by  the  Hebrews,  and  that  they  had  grouoed^th?^ 
selves  into  village  communitks.    Wh^e  ?heir  v^i 

th.vL^"**,  **'!■'*'  '¥"  P^*"^^d  in  the  land  of  SJsheT 
they  had  also  large^  applied  themselves  to  agric^S 
pursuits  for  which  the  exceedingly  fertile  soS  and 
abundant  supply  of  water,  formed  The  most  favourabl^ 

toTv'' ^ ''™^'"  ^"'^/"^'"•"g  "fe  of  the  mere  s^p^^ 
to  a  higher  plane  of  social  development.     Thev  hid 
also  acquired,  as  time  progressed,  a  knowledge  of  the 
various  trades  and  arts  of  Egypt  so  necelanf  L  It,  • 

^T:  J!'*'°"^^  ''^^-  Thi«  ffiedge  SemarSs  en' 
abled  them  to  execute  all  the  beautifu?  anT  del  ca?e" 
work  required  for  the  tabernacle  and  the  ark      Tn 

27^  '^^'  f^%  P^°^^^  themselves  to  be  expert 
artisans  m  gold,  silver,  wood  and  stone,  in  weaving  em 
broidery,  and  dyeing;  and  were  also  abirtoiut' a^d' 
engrave  precious  stones.    But  while  the  Eg^pt  of  the 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT.        301 

to  some  extent  at  Uoc?  k  '  lu  '"^^  ^^^^  influenced, 
"•«>'om^^^,^t-^X:^'^'^^>^?''  of  .he 
in  its  elaborate  rit,,=l   „  ^   i    f?''"' """"P"' ng 

which  eveaCofacSfd!;!?'  *fe?*ness  with 

of  their  sojourn  inEsZ  un  f  V.  ^  ^°"^ /T°^ 

deliverance   from  bondfefdrew  near      h/k  ^S^"'"'' 
his   Providence    arr=nnr^A        V.        f^'     "^  h^^^'  'n 

precisely  as  it  proved  to  be  in  aft^r  ol  ■  '^^  ^"^ 

order  of  ttingf  «s  eSafe- LdXrhe"."SL."  S 


1  8 


:■ 


302    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

great  national  prosperity  of  the  Egyptians,  despite 
their  Idolatrous  practices,  would  be  another  stumbling. 

S  SS,i^   t  "!^J5'''^''  /"*^  1}  '""^*  ^*^«  b««"  a  molt 
difficult  task,  at  times,  for  their  elders  and  religious 

teachers  to  keep  them  true  to  their  ancient  faith     It 

is  quite  probable  that  there  was  a  great  falling  away 

amongst  them  from  the  worship  of  Jehovah,  and  that 

their  subsequent  cruel  bondage  was  one  of  the  means. 

Divinely  chosen,  to  lead  to  a  new  religious  revival 

and  to  cause  them  to  turn  to  the  God  of  their  father^ 

for  mercy  and  relief. 

l«5!l""^  *^f  '^J^"'  °^  ^i"^  Shepherd  Kings,  which 
lasted,  as    already   stated,  until   about    twenty-four 
years  after  the  death  of  Joseph,  the  Hebrews  con- 
tinued to  occupy  r  most  favoured  position,  and  must 
have  greatly  multiplied   and  prospered.    With  the 
nse  of  Dynasty  XVIII.  their  troubles  would  commence 
Its  sovereigns  were  strangers  to  them,  had  no  reason 
to  regard  them  with  preferential  considerations  of  any 
sort,  and  would  place  them  on  the  same  footing  as  the 
rest  of  their  subjects.    They  would  be  compelled  to 
pay  taxes,  to  supply  forced  labour  occasionally  for  the 
building  or  cleaning  of  canals,  and  for  other  public 
works;  and  to  probably  contribute  their  quota  to  the 
army  and  navy.    Eventually,  from  one  unfavourable 
circumstance  or  another,  still  harsher  treatment  would 
be  meted  out  to  them ;  and  when  Dynasty  XIX.  arose 
they  had  come  to  be  regarded  by  the  authorities  with 
great  disfavour,  and  were  eventually  reduced  to  the 
bondage  in  which  we  find  them  at  the  Exodus 

But  no  doubt  many  of  the  more  thoughtful  and 
pious  Hebrews  never  forgot  the  promises  made  by 
God  to  their  ancestors,  and  were  now  looking  for  their 
lulfilment.  This  would  be  especially  the  case  with  the 
Levites.  who,  while  they  occupied  a  foremost  place  as 
regarded  their  brethren  from  an  intellectual  stand- 
point, appear  to  have  also  devoted  more  attention 
to  educational  acquirements.  Moses,  Aaron,  and  the 
prophetess  Miriam.were  the  children  of  Levite  parents 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT.        303 

Amram  and  Jochebed  (Exodus  vi.  ao'i  and  thf  mk- 
stood  so  high  otherwise\n  the  estimaSi'n'of  God.That 
t«  f^'^u^  save  it  the  office  of  the  High  Priest- 
nat^o^  T?'  ^'"""^  ''^¥T  ministry  of  tlfe  Hebrew 

wUne";  of  Go?,"T^  '^  ^"''^^  ^^^  ^"  additional 
Wi  n  u^a  promises  as  to  the  redemption  of 
Israel.     On  his  death-bed  he  had  solemnly  reminded 

them  S^.t'r°.^  that  promise,  and  propSSicaTy  told 
tnem  that  God  wou  d  surely  visit  th^m  an^  k.- 
them  up  out  of  Egypt  intoX'and  of  CanSan^'Af 
Abraham  was  an  educated  man.  and  therefore  well 

bXTv**  ""^^  *^'  ^^  °^  *"*'"g'  h«  must  have Teft 
behind  him  an  autobiographical  sketch  of  his  own 
life,  and  an  account  of  God's  gracious  prom  ses  ^ 

thS  the  H^hP°'*t"?-  ,  "^"^  '^"^  «"  be  no  doubt 
that  the  Hebrews  had  also  preserved  records  of  the 
leading  events  in  the  lives  of  Isaac,  Jacob  and  loienh 
and  that  the  author  of  the  Book  of  Genesis^ai^ccess 
to  all  these  documents.    Archaological  discover^, 
of  recent  years,  amid  the  ruined  cities  of  thfanS 
rS.h^^  demonstrated  beyond  all  manner  of  SouSt 
or  cavil,  as  we  have  already  seen,  that  the  Abrahamic 
period  was  not  an  illiterate  one  by  any  means  bit 
one  of  schools  and  culture  of  an  advanced  Scter 
There  is  no  event  of  remote  ancient  history  more 

or  flight  of  the  children  of  Israel  from  Egypt.  From 
cnnT.'t^  standpoint,  the  institution  of  SJpassov™ 
constituted  a  perpetual  and  most  distinct  memorS  of 
the  occurrence;  and  the  fact  that  the  natioSty  of 
pute  ThrH'I'  *^?  <=o"|menced  is  beyond  all  dis- 
Sccurr  J  f.?^"^     ""'  PH"?  *^  ^'^^dus  as  having 

SI  the  Ifl^f 'l°-  ""•'  ^^'"^  ^'^^''^  Chronolog? 
rnakes  the  date  to  be  1491  years  B.  c.  We  believe 
the  latter  estimate  to  be  the  more  correct  of  the  two 
From  that  date  until  the  end  of  the  Book  of  Nehemiah" 
434  years  B.  c.  the  Old  Testament  presentfus  ^^th 
a  consecutive  history  of  the  Jewish  race  for  the  long 
period  of  1057  years.  * 


!      I 
■      I 


•ff 


I.; 


.i>«ii 


304    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

A^nJ  !!*'Tu°^  ^t""^^'  *"**  especially  Moses  and 
Aaron,  must  have  been  well  aware  that  the  time  set 

tL  Si  *?  ifi^'""  '•^J^r  •"  ^8yP*  ^^  expireXand 
that  the  fulfilment  of  his  promises  to  Abraham  was 
near  accomplishment.    As  the  time  of  their  ddive" 

lm!JT:''HK'  *  8''"\  r^'-gious  revival  :^Mn 
among  the  Hebrews,  mainly  induced  by  their  00" 
pressed  condition,  and  the  severe  hardships  thev 
So?  l;°Tf '"'**  *°  ^UJ!"'*^-  They  turned  at'^ast  to 
reuei.       And  God  heard  their  groanine."  savs  the 

XlbSam ''  -irr'  "^^^  r  ^-bered  L  c"^  na^n? 
with  Abraham,  with  Isaac  and  with  Jacob.  And  God 
looked  upon  the  Children  of  Israel,  and  G?d  had 
respect  unto  them."  (Exodus  ii.  24,  25.)  The  day 
?  K^'^u  ^eliverance  was  now  close  at  hand  and 
Jehovah  had  a  ready  prepared  his  chief  inst^umente 
for  Its  accomplishment,  in  Moses,  and  his  brother 

the  latter  had  long  been  aware  of  his  brother's  cSn- 
cated  with  him  as  often  as  he  could  do  so  without 
tTVl  ^'^^°^^t7-     ^"'  '^'  information  of  the 

sought  hf^iT'!fi^-  ^"^  °^  ^^  *<^  o*^'-  n^en  who 
sought  his  life,  did  not  come  from  Aaron,  but  was 

rnTS'"*^  *°  ^°'"  ^y  ^°^  himself  at 'the  bum! 

at  Mount*  H^I'r"**'"**"";*  ?^««ngof  the  brothers 
at  Mount  Horeb,  for  consultation  and  mutual  comfort 

of'pharll;''''.- 1  ^^  ^°^-    T*>^  '"'««'°"  to  tKurt 

of  ^he  i'^w '*"  '^^'^  *'"°  J"^"  *"^  »«"t  on.  was  one 

1  the  most  dangerous  and  difficult  character    and 

pbced  them  in  jeopardy  of  their  lives.     oTthe  dea"h 

able  a?d'?  ^'^^^  y"?"  ^'  ^•>  ^''^  ^°"  Meneptah  a„ 
S.ln  f^  ;'  ^  "'^^  '"  '"'^^'e  "fe,  who  had  alrekdy 
been   he  colleague  of  his  father  in  the  governmenrof 

As  was  common  in  those  days,  on  the  demise  of  a 
grea  over-lord,  the  vassal  kings  of  other  TountrLs 
considered   themselves  freed  ffom   the  payment  of 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT.        305 

tt„^;!:,t'hlSete^  Warlike 

a  favourable  opportuni?^  f„r^'  *'''**^  *»  presenting 
Egypt,  the  lJ6yans"Ss[ed  h"*^»T'v^'^  ''°"  of 
appear  in  history  for  the  fit.'  ^-       v  ^u''"*'''  ^^»»o 
Etruscans.  SardinLs.  and  Ly,fans"Ln^  A-  ^'"'"*"»' 
maritime  nations  of  i^nortt^rJ      '  *^^  ^Mediterranean 
Y  sea  and  land.  uporSegZ"'^  ^Tk^^I^  **"<=«"*. 
plunder  and  settlement     rL     '^x^?  **>«=  v'«w  of 
him  a  large  and  well  or.,V  •!.'*'  ""  *>***  '^^  behind 
fleet,  and  Lneptarwh '^.^''^^  u'.*^^'"S  «""y  and 

the  crisis,  defeated  •t?e°Cdei^''"'''^^"">'*^^^ 
S.X  hours' duration.  aSdrove^^^^^^^     ^^rl^^  '^^^'^  of 
but  not  before  therLd^!     !.      "^"^^"''^"nt'y; 
devastation  in  vaSs  3?rltio„s     M  ^'^*  ^'"ount  of 
tion  on  the  temple  waifs  of  i^  ^^eneptaJi's  inscrip- 
L«byan  inroad,  and  hi    -  I  '^^•■"ak  telling  of  the 
number  of  the   rnvarf.  "''°'^'  '*^'««  that  a  lame 
prisoners.  9c^  coZfrZo^!''   ""^'^  ^'^6   takfn 
quantity  ofcattle  SKf  «fi^  ^^  captured,  and  a  great 
the  brave,;  of  hfs l?m v  an!!  ^''''^^.'     ^^  boaste  of 
of  which  he  had  2^^^,^/?^*^*^^"^°^  bis  cavalry 
have  taken  great  p/S?'  X  '"  ^^i"^  ^^  appearsTo 
established  on  Se^throne     V?^\^"*  now  firmly 
hesitated  to  pay  their  rc;„  J  *"!.'  ^'?8*  "*>  'onger 
nipre  invasions  need   be  S°!?^'*o*^''"*«'  «nd  no 
things  did  not  prevent  himf'    ^"'  *^'^  ^^ate  of 
frontier  fortifications!  and  Th.T  ^''■^"gthening  his 
public  work,  and  the  tasks  o?thr°'''"*'°'i  °^  °*ber 
were  more  rigorously  enforrlnVPP''*'""^^  Hebrews 
of  Moses  and  Aaron  to  h^f     ^^^^  *^^^''-     ^he  visit 
nifde  towards  Se  do  ^  5'f%f°"^^.  must  have  been 
rejgn.     Egypt  was  «s«Il  of  ^l   J^-  ^.^*=°"d  year  of  his 

prospenvTwWhlmese'sn^t*; 

still   represented   the  Jr«If   •  .     '  ^^^  raised  it;  and 

When  Moses  and  Aaro^'"^'  ^r^*"  °^  the  ^orld 

they  found  themsetes  acc^r?'"?  ^^^°^^  ^^^^Ptah 

orthe  greatest  of  afert^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  ^^^^^ 


■ll^ 


i  ! 


M 


306    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

o^R^VtJ't^  '  •*'"«  5>f,'*«'np.  b"t»  ««  an  incarnation 
of  Ra.  to  be  also  a  god  like  his  father  before  him  and 

Sea  ed  on  his  gorgeous  throne,  in  the  magmficent 
audience  room  of  the  royal  palace  at  Zoan-xiiis  and 
surrounded  by  the  princes  S^his  own  fami  y  and  W, 
numerous  courtiers,  he  gave  audience  to  ^^o  plSn 
men.  Moses  and  Aaron,  who  appeared  before  him  ai 

^d*S't'*^?^°"  °^  the  Divinelfuler  of  the  unf^rse! 
and  not  of  any  earthly  sovereign.  Amid  all  the 
evidences  of  grandeur,  and  great  pSwer  and  au  Aority! 
which  ^vejywhere  met  the  eye.  these  ambassador^  of 

of  S  fnfV''*  r  ^^'^  th«ir  courage,  or  presence 
of  mmd.  for  a  single  moment,  and  delivered  their 

TV^u  *t'^  Jlf"*^  ^**  «"»?'«  directness.  "Thus 
saith  the  Lord  God  of  Israel."  said  they.  ••  Let  my 

Pharaoh  «tl,»V?°  ,'^  *^v*^  ^'^"  *"P-»y  responded 
Pharaoh,    that  I  should  obey  his  voice  to  let  Israel  eo  ? 

I  know  not  the  Lord,  neither  will  I  let  Israel  ^" 

There  was  no  Jehovah  among  the  gods  of  Egypt,  nor 

among  the  gods  of  the  other  nations  with  SJch  he 

was  acquainted,  so  Pharaoh  treated  his  name, Tthat 

d.w/rJ*^ Vi,""*  ""'5"°*n  <Jeity.  with  contempt  and 
disregard.  The  further  explanations  of  Moses  and 
Aaron  were  of  no  avail,  and  ended  in  the  still  greater 
oppression  of  their  Hebrew  brethren,  who  w^"  to 
be  now  compelled  to  gather  straw  for  their  bricks 
which  mu.t  still  be  supplied  in  the  same  quant"ties 

at  lenSJlni'^'T**  ^2^  *^'  ^*^P°*i^  Pharloh  were 
chir^Slr  Tr*''  T**'^*'  °"  ^  '""^  °^the  clearest 
cnaracter.  The  only  question  now  was  who  would 
be  the  victor  in  the  contest?  The  cup  of  Egyptian 
iniquity  had  already  become  full  to  ovefflowinf  The 

crueTtl"Sf  lt°'*7  °^  .**'"  ^^°'*^  P^°Pl^'  the^selfish 
cruelty  of  the  ruling  classes,  the  overweening  pride  of 
the  sacerdotal  order,  and  of  the  aristocracy  lenerally, 
the  gross  impurities  of  the  masses,  and  the  arro- 
gant claims  of  the  Pharaohs  to  be  regarded  as  div7n°- 


'•  n 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT        30; 

that  in  cvtry  Jm  of  A.  ??^  profane,  teach  us 
invariably  iZn^^lt^  h^ n:S^LT''''t'  »'"»  h«vc 
the  wheel  of  time  revolv^  fill  ?.  P""'»hmcnts.  As 
la»t  presented  it^l7  a„?lwie?S^^^^  ^^'Pl^'^  «» 
pinnacle  of  its  political  ««?„..  ^r'?^  "*  *''«  very 
general  ProspenV/    SL^noi^^^^^^  ;i^"'»'^  «"d 

dust.    How  its  hum.JJoi^  *°  °*  humb  ed  to  the 

easily  be  llrJld^by'S^SerjS^.'T'llP'''^^^^^^^^ 
graphic  narrative  of  the  pTeu«  «f  p"  ''^•"  ^"^ 
txodus  supplies.     How  fo^Hhuf    ^  ?»^*'  "'^ich 
pressed  upon  Meneptah  thS  rfe^  '^!!,*^*  '"«»'  'm- 
[and.  in  whom  he  Sd  hitheL  /"  ^°*?  **<^  ^»  "ative 
him  no  assistance  in  the  W  Tl-"^'  ^^  brought 
culty,  and  that  the  Jehovah  nf  v    5"  ?^"'"»  «•'«- 
slaves  was  the  onVtrurCoS  nf'l ''"P''"''  "^brew 
But  despite  all  hs  terrible  Iffll^^^^'^v^*'  ««rth} 
pride  and  impenitence  still  h.w*'°'"'.  *^«  '«aven  of 
and  so  provoLd  hTs  final  JlSom  ''°''''*°"  °^  ^"  »°"J' 

soIlaJmTd^Phtrh.  SLtirhS^i^^  'r-  ^-'^n- 
him,  and  told  him  tha^alf  th^„^K°**'  ^""""S^*  before 
serve  the  Lord;  but  thev  mus^^?  '"^''\'"'fi^bt  go  and 
sheep  and  goat^  and  theiThTr^     r*''^  }^^"  ^o^ks  of 
as  security  for  thelj^etum    M^^el?"'"  H'"^  *<^™ 
offer,  and  declared  that  theirT.  t       "^5  '^^"^^  *is 
would  be  necessary  fo^  sacrifi.i.i         "^"^  ^^'"  ^erds 
should  not  be  onT  hoof  feft  SIP"^P°4".  ^^^  there 
resolute  language  m"Se  PJ,        u'""^'    ™'  ^rm  and 

and  he  not  only^:CTtoZ£%T'''''''^y  '"^^' 
threatened  that  if  Moses  atlln  o  '''"■^'^5  ^°' h"t  also 

he  would  put  him  to  death^APfr^  ^'^""'^  »'''» 
hast  spoken  well.  I  will  see  th-t  ^°?*^  ^^•^'  ^hou 
that  is,  that  he  wouW  nnf  i^  ^^""^  ^S^'"  "o  more;" 
before  him.    BuTh^war^ J?  Ph?"'^K  P*";!^^"*  bim^elf 

Which  he  bad  ^r:.ira\^^y^:t^_l^^ 


308    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


s 


i     i 


in  all  the  land  of  Egypt  should  perish,  from  his  own 
eldest  son  down  to  the  eldest  son  of  the  maid-servant 
that  turned  the  hand-mill,  which,  as  in  Eastern  coun- 
tries tOKlay,  ground  the  flour  for  the  family  she  served ; 
and  all  the  firstborn  of  beasts,  which  would  include 
the  sacred  animals  worshipped  in  the  temples.  And 
there  shall  be  a  great  cry,  continued  Moses,  through- 
out all  the  land  of  E^pt,  such  as  there  was  none  like 
it  nor  shall  be  like  it  any  more.  And  all  these  thy 
servants  shall  come  down  unto  me,  and  bow  them- 
selves unto  me,  saying,  get  thee  out,  and  all  the  people 
that  follow  thee,  and  after  that  I  will  go  out.  And  he 
went  out  from  Pharaoh  in  a  great  anger.  This  ter- 
rible threat  must  have  intensely  alarmed  Meneptah, 
for  it  does  not  appear  that  he  attempted  to  punish  the 
man,  who  had  so  courageously  set  him  at  defiance 
before  all  his  court. 

The  Passover  has  been  eaten  by  the  Hebrews,  at 
even,  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  what  was  thereafter 
to  be  the  first  month  of  the  year,  with  them ;  and 
every  preparation  had  been  made  for  flight,  when  the 
summons  came.  "  And  it  came  to  pass  thai  at  mid- 
night the  Lord  smote  all  the  firstborn  in  the  land  of 
Egypt,  from  the  firstborn  of  Pharaoh  that  sat  on 
his  throne,  unto  the  firstborn  of  the  captive  that  was 
in  the  dungeon,  and  all  the  firstborn  of  cattle." 
(Exodus  xii.  29.)  The  warning  of  Moses  had  been 
fulfilled  to  the  letter,  and  the  great  cry  which  he  had 
predicted  arose  upon  the  night-air  in  every  direction. 
Pharaoh  was  at  last  subdued.  He  conceded  every 
demand  of  Moses,  and  the  Hebrews  were  now  per- 
mitted to  go  and  serve  the  Lord,  and  to  take  their 
flocks  and  their  herds  with  them.  Fearful  of  further 
calamity,  the  principal  Egyptians  urged  their  immedi- 
ate departure,  and  willingly  lent  them  the  gold  and 
silver  ornaments  and  raiment  that  they  asked  for. 
The  Hebrews  had  toiled  for  ages  for  Pharaoh  and  the 
upper  classes  of  his  people,  without  receiving  any 
wages,  and  this  was  the  only  possible  way  that  any 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT.        309 
compensation  could  now  be  secured.    In  addition 
behind  them  which  they  ecu  d  1    i  t  ;.i.  iwav  anJk,;i 

out  of  Egypt,  and   could   n-A  tarry  cv-n    t/nrfr  Vis 

any  necessary  victuals  for  tl.eu  jc,  rrcy  A  vrr^;?t 
of  men,  women,  and  chiMrcn.  f  .no  spe-  iL  on  h; 
march  from  Rameses  „r  Tani  .n  tin  ."^v  f« 
Succoth.  There  were  sr  hund.c'  ih.,as  ,.i  Zn  of 
Israel  alone,  who  march.n  on  fo  t. .  r.i  tV ir  frmUi^ 
must  have  represented  over  a  rjl-.n  f  p7;p,e'^i;V 
y^\y%to>d  that  a  mixed  multitude.  c.-.'^osTJo 
doubt  of  others  who  desired  to  .  s  .a,,/rrom  Cda« 
went  up  with  them,  so  that  the  eai.ic  host  of  fuS 

.ouTs  "^t^^  M^r''^^*'*^  **  '«"»  fully  iSomiZi 
souls.    The  world  has  never  seen  such  a  memorable 

Sm'^.f"  "0^  took  place.  It  was  led  by  Kovah 
himself,  in  a  cloud-pillar  by  day,  and  a  Sllar  of  fir^ 

t^Sn '  TK  "''u**''^"'  ^"^"  *»»  *>*"  immediate  pro-' 
tection.  The  short  and  direct  road  to  Canaan  wai  bv 
tfie  way  of  the  country  of  the  Philistines,  buMhey 
were  not  permitted  to  pursue  that  route,  lest  the  war 

r^Ji^tTp'  ''T'^'^X  '"»"*=•  '"'Kht  cause  Sem  to 
return  to  Ego^pt.    God  led  the  Hebrew  host  in  anothc? 

Sor/°  f"*'l-°u"*  u^''^"=*^°"  *°  th«  Red  Sea,  on  the 
shore  of  which  they  were  directed  to  encamp!  at  a 
point  which  could  not  be  far  from  the  present  town 
of  Suez,  and  well  within  the  desert 

Several  weeks  had  passed  away.  The  period  of 
rJI'^T^.^^.'^*^  Egyptians  for  their  dead  had  been 
S ''*''^^*'"*  *t*^   ^""^'^^  h»d  not  returned  to 

S>S' and  Ph.°  "^^^  '''^'*"^^- ,  '^^^y  ^^^  fl 'd  for 
§iTt  for.  K  ^^f  »°^^^l  not  only  fully  apprised  of 
Sea  Th?h  ""^T  ^l  *^^"'  e""n>P'"<^"t  near  the  Red 
footh  Jh-  wt  °  *""^  ""."'*  ^^^*  ^''■e^dy  somewhat 
soothed  his  bitter  memories  of  the  recent  past-  his 
normal  courage  and   his  pride  were  agai?  in  the 


i        iffl 


\\ 


H:' 


310    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

ascendant,  and  the  feeling  of  penitence  grew  dimmer 
and  dimmer  with  each  succeeding  day.    So  Jehovah 
again  hardened  his  heart,  and  determined  on  his  final 
overthrow.    A  general  feeling  of  regret  now  arose,  at 
the  court  of  Pharaoh,  with  regard  to  the  successful 
escape  of  the  Hebrews,  and  the  public  loss  which  that 
event  entailed.    The  great  works  on  which  they  had 
been  employed  had  come  to  a  standstill,  as  no  other 
equally  cheap  labour  was  available,  and   the  new 
fortifications  in  progress,  to  protect  the  frontier  more 
effectually  from  future  hostile  inroads,  could  not  be 
completed.     "And  the  heart  of  Pharaoh  and  of  his 
servants  was  turned  against  the  (Hebrew)  people; 
and  they  said.  Why  have  we  done  this  that  we  have 
let  Israel  go  from  serving  us?"     But  they  consoled 
themselves  with  the  reflection  that  the  fugitives  had 
entangled  themselves  in  the  wilderness,  and  were  now 
in  a  position  from  which  escape,  presuming  that  they 
were  at  once  pursued,  was  impossible.     The  inter- 
vening distance  was  about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles,  and  that  could  easily  be  covered  by  forced 
marches  in   a   few  days.     So   prompt  pursuit   was 
resolved  upon,  and  a  general  determination  prevailed 
to  compel  the  Hebrews  to  return  to  their  former  con- 
dition of  bondmen.    As  the  latter  were  known  to  be 
armed  to  some  extent,  and  as  they  possibly  might 
make  the  desperate  resistance  which  despair  produces 
at  times,  Pharaoh  determined  to  move  against  them 
with  all  the  available  troops  at  his  disposal  in  the 
yicimty  of  his  capital,  and  to  put  himself  at  their  head 
in  his  own  chariot,  so  as  to  make  success  the  more 
certain.     His  force  consisted  of  six  hundred  chosen 
chariots,  which  no  doubt  formed  his  bodyguard,  and 
all  his  other  chariots,  a  strong  division  of  cavalry,  and 
his   infantry   regiments.     There  were  probably  one 
hundred  thousand  well-drilled  soldiers  altogether  in 
the  pursuing  force.     And  when  Pharaoh  drew  nigh 
the  children  of  Israel  lifted  up  their  eyes,  and  be- 
hold the  Egyptians  marched  after  them,  and  they  were 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT.         3,1 
sore  afraid,  and  cried  out  unto  th«.  T^^r^      a   j  .i. 

escape  presented  itself     TuLr  '?f""'°'  "<>  chance  of 

fight  for  you,  and  ye  shall  hold  your  oeace  »    An!? 
^./"fher  prcK,f  that  this  resuk  wouTd  ?ndee^  tll^ 
place,  the  p.llar  of  cloud  moved  to  the  r  re?r  anH 
dunngthe  ensuing  night  produced  such  darkness  over 
whTa?;Sf  Y""^*?''  •'  ^^^  ""^^'^  *°  move  onwa?d: 
camp'o';4'e%l'SuVr'  '^  *"  ^  P'"^^  °^  ''gh^  *o  *e 

soulhl'fhe  ^S'sSe^*t?re^Tn°/f""'rr^^  *^ 
west.  Atthispoin"  h:?;i:  ;owat?adtl"^fl?e: 
of  over  three  miles.    The  bottom  of  t?is  strL^h  nf 

U.an  five  fe«  in  '^P^il^.'^l^tl^.r^S:: oIl^Tl 


i 


If- 


'11 
■  ( 
t     ( 


m .  i^ 


312    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

bottom  is  quite  diy.  This  ford  has  been  crossed  in 
modern  times  by  Napoleon  Bonaparte  and  many 
others,  and  as  its  rock-bottom  at  intervals  shows, 
must  have  been  much  in  the  same  condition  at  the 
time  of  the  Exodus  as  it  is  to-day,  so  that  the  Egyp- 
tians  would  be  well  acquainted  with  it.  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  this  was  the  point  at  which  the  children 
of  Israel  crossed  to  the  opposite  shore,  and  not  at  the 
narrower  part  of  the  sea  a  few  miles  in  another  direc- 
tion, which  would  not  permit  of  Pharaoh's  army,  front 
and  rear,  being  all  in  the  water  at  one  and  the  same 
time. 

The  night  set  in  dark  and  stormy,  with  a  heavy 
eastern  gale  prevailing  which  drove  the  sea  before  it 
at  ebb  tide  until  the  sandy  ridge  of  the  ford  was 
laid  quite  bare,  and  even  the  centre  channel  must  have 
been  made  dry.     The  divided  waters  were  a  wall  of 
protection  to  the  fugitives,  on  their  right  hand  and 
on  their  left.    The  storm  prolonging  the  ebb  delayed 
the  return  flow  of  the  tide,  and  before  the  morning 
light  had  ht  up  the  eastern  sky,  the  whole  Hebrew 
host,  men,  women,  and  children,  with  all  their  flocks 
and  herds,  had  safely  won  the  opposite  shore,  without 
having  experienced  any  serious  dangers  or  difficul- 
ties.    In  the  meantime  the  Egyptians  had  reached 
the  ford,  and  supposing  that  the   storm  would  still 
keep  back  the  tide,  and  seeing  their  prey  so  near, 
they  permitted  passion  to  overcome  every   feeling 
of  prudence,  and  determined  on  immediate  pursuit 
Led  by  their  chariot  force,  with  Pharaoh  no  doubt 
at  Its  head,  they  followed  the  Hebrews  into  the 
midst  of  the  sea.    And  it  came  to  pass  that  in  the 
morning  watch  the  Lord  looked  unto  the  host  of 
the  Egyptians  through  the  pillar  of  fire  and  of  the 
cloud,  and  troubled  them.     Their  advance  was  de- 
layed by  various  mishaps  to  their  chariot  squad- 
ron? m  the  van;    and  realising,  at  length,  that  the 
Lord  was  fighting  for  Israel  they  presently  resolved  to 
retreat,  and  fly  for  their  lives.    But  the  hour  of  their 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT.    3,3 

final  doom  had  come  to  Pharaoh  and  his  solendid 
army,  and  retreat  was  no  longer  possible     Tnd^t 

tfte  sea,  that  the  waters  may  come  again  upon  the 

mfi;^  Th;  "r ;  '^■'•;i  i'^"°^'  ^"^  "P°"  "heThorse! 
men     The  east  wmd  had  ceased  to  blow,  and  iust 

fts  str'en"^T'"^.''^''  '^^'^''^  *^«  sea  r^iuTnei  to 
Its  sb-ength,  and   a  great   tidal  wave,  the   force  of 

which  was  vastly  increased  by  the  he;ped-up  wL?/ 

Soo^'th.  tf*°/'''''?'^  ''''  suddenly^we?t  down 
upon  the   hapless    Egyptians.    And  the  waters  re 

turned  and  covered  the  chariots,  and  the  hS^remen 

after  the'Sf.  '^  °'  ^'^^-^^^  *^*  came  into    he  sea 
after  them ;   there   remained  not  so   much  as  one 

of  thri,   ^"%*heL°'^  «^^^<^  Israel  £  day  out 
feared  tt^?  a     ''if  f  ?yP««"s.     And  the  pTopfe 

"ad^^ac^orSed  5,eT  Y"'  t^"^^'-^"*=«  ^^^'^^  J^hov'h 

tians,  and  to  arm  themselves  therewith.^  *^ 

R^^l  J^^°^*»»  l«^d  the  children  of  Israel  out  of 
Egypt,  he  directed  them  to  encamp  at  an  oal  ,  in  thi 
deser^  named  Pihahiroth,  (the  pk?e  whereX  reeSs 

Sn"riTbeTrs^^'-"P^'3^-  '"^^  Attka  m";? 
S"oJr^Th.~  .1  ^""  "^^  *=*"^^  ^y^^  Phceniciai. 


■  U 


*.".»Saildt)i«?h:sS£5,;j-'- 


In  Psalm  Intvii. 


314    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

Only  a  short  distance  intervened  to  that  narrow  part 
of  the  Red  Sea  which  is  now  known  as  the  Gulf  of 
Suez ;  and  where,  in  God's  providence,  the  final  over- 
throw of  Pharaoh  and  his  army  was  so  soon  to  take 
place.  Near  the  point  where  the  Hebrews  reached 
the  Arabian  shore,  after  their  passage  through  the 
sea,  a  plain  runs  back  to  a  fertile  oasis  of  considerable 
extent,  where  a  rich  vegetation  is  produced  by  several 
flowing  springs  which  are  still  known  as  Ayun  Musa, 
or  the  wells  of  Moses.  From  these  springs  water 
was  obtained  for  the  town  of  Suez,  before  De  Lesseps 
constructed  the  Sweet  Water  Canal.  It  is  quite  prob- 
able that  the  area  of  vegetation,  in  their  vicinity,  was 
much  more  extensive  at  the  period  of  the  Exodus 
than  it  is  now ;  and  that,  in  addition  to  water,  a  wide 
range  of  pasturage  rendered  it  a  most  desirable  site 
for  the  first  camp  of  the  Hebrews  to  the  east  of  the 
Red  Sea.  Their  miraculous  escape  had  raised  their 
spirits  from  a  depression  caused  by  extreme  terror  to 
a  delirium  of  joy.  From  a  situation  fraught  with  the 
direst  peril,  they  had  passed  in  a  single  night  to  a 
position  of  perfect  safety.  An  almost  helpless  mul- 
titude, cumbered  with  women  and  children,  great 
flocks  of  sheep  and  herds  of  cattle,  with  the  rolling 
sea  before  them,  and  the  terrible  chariots  of  Egypt 
behind  them,  had  seen  a  way  made  for  them  through 
the  waters,  and  the  chivalry  of  the  greatest  empire 
irt  the  world,  which  followed  in  pursuit,  overwhelmed 
with  destruction.  There  was  no  room  for  pride  on 
their  part;  they  could  have  done  nothing  to  save 
themselves,  and  realised  tpat  it  was  the  hand  of  the 
invisible  Jehovah  which  alone  had  redeemed  them 
from  their  imminent  peril.  It  was  only  fitting  that  the 
memory  of  the  great  occasion  should  be  perpetuated 
by  some  suitable  meqiorial.  That  memorial  w^s 
speedily  supplied  by  the  magnincent  ode,  which 
Moses  composed  to  commemorate  forever  the  de- 
struction of  the  Egyptian  army,  ana  which  snows  him 
to  have  been  a  great  poet,  as  well  as  a  great  leader 


f   t 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT.        315 

the  Hebrew  race,  and  has  fired  the  ^enjI^Tr  fu  ■ 
t1   •  f  ^"?.""*'5-     Nor  did  Its  echoes  die  awav  with  th*. 

t^an  documents  or  inscriptions  throw  1  ttle  or  no  dfe? 
light  upon  that  national  catastrophe  confirmatorv  el^ 

wlyf  '??;:V?  "^  'i?'"  indirect'sources  ^d  Khe^^^ 
ways.     The  Greek  historian.  Diodorus  of  Sicilv  rvh!. 

fofeiL^r^^V^"^*^*'"^  ^'^*°""'  materillSiyt! 
ea?t  of  tSReH"c;''"\'"^'  ^'^^^  the  Arab  tribes,  on  the 
Snrf^H  S^  ^^*'  ^\^^  *  tradition,  which  has  been 

.^11''°'?'  among  them  from  age  to  aee  tothe 
^fl^^^V""  ^J^o'tbay  at  the  head  o  the^gu  f  was 
seen  A  J"""  ''^  "''i  *'^««  ^°  *hat  the  botfom  was 
flourish^d^Hh"''  '  ^'■"/'^  ""*^°^  °f  eminence  who 
book  on  th2  T  '^*=°"'^  *'?"*"'y  «-C-.  and  wrote  a 
Dook  on  the  Jews,  some  fragments  of  which  have 
been  preserved  by  Eusebius.  records,  that  '^the  prists 
of  Memphis  were  wont  to  say  that  Moses  had  n2 
rowly  studied  the  time  of  the  ebb  anrflow  of  the 
stds'wer'et;?e"^  '1^'^ °P-^^  ^T^^  '  -^e^n  tt 
th&otWise.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

tha?  the  Isr'.^H?   ^  """"^T  '^"'■'^^'^^  t"''"^^  back  so 
tnat  tne  Israehtes  passed   over  drv-shod      R.,fr  tJ,- 

Egyptians,  having  ventured  on  th?^ same  dangerous 
1  Hours  with  the  Bible.  Vol.  II.  p.  lo;. 


'.I- 


i    i 


316    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

path,  were  blinded  by  Are  from  heaven ;  and  the  sea 
having  rushed  back  to  its  bed  they  all  perished,  partly 
by  the  thunderbolts,  partly  in  the  waters."  Manetho, 
the  Egyptian  historian,  who  flourished  during  the 
reign  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  (285-2478.0.).  the 
Greek  King  of  Egypt,  must  have  been  well  acquainted 
with  the  Biblical  narrative  of  the  Exodus.  He  was  a 
good  Greek  scholar,  and  wrote  his  history  in  that 
language.  His  work  has  been  lost  for  many  centu- 
ries, and  only  a  few  fragments,  preserved  by  other 
authors,  have  come  down  to  the  present  day.  One 
of  these  fragments,  bearing  upon  the  Exodus,  is  to 
be  found  in  Josephus.*  According  to  him,  Manetho 
stated  that  the  Hebrews  originally  came  into  Egypt, 
many  ten  thousands  in  number,  and  subdued  its  in- 
habitants. That  they  went  out  of  the  country  after- 
wards, settled  in  Judea,  and  there  built  Jerusalem 
and  its  temple.  So  far,  continued  Josephus,  Manetho 
followed  his  ancient  records,  but  he  afterwards  intro- 
duces incredible  narratives  about  the  Jews,  wholly 
unworthy  of  belief.  He  introduces  a  fictitious  king, 
named  Amenophis,  who  was  desirous  to  become  a 
spectator  of  the  gods,  like  his  predecessor  Orus.  A 
priest  and  namesake  told  this  king  that  he  might  see 
the  gods  if  he  would  clear  the  whole  country  of  the 
lepers  and  other  impure  people.  Amenophis  did  this, 
and  collected  together,  to  the  number  of  eighty  thou- 
sand, all  the  diseased  persons,  and  sent  them  to  work 
in  the  quarries  at  the  east  side  of  the  Nile,  so  that 
they  could  be  kept  separate  from  the  rest  of  the 
Egyptians.  They  were  finally  permitted  to  reside  at 
Avaris,  which  had  lain  desolate  since  the  Shepherd 
Kings  had  been  driven  out.  There  they  presendy 
organised  a  revolt,  under  the  leadership  of  a  leper 
priest  of  Heliopolis,  named  Osarsiph,  who  after- 
wards changed  his  name  to  Moses,  and  made  his  fol- 
lowers swear  that  they  would  be  obedient  to  him  in 
all  things.     He  then  made  a  law  that  they  should  not 

1  Josephus  against  Apkm,  Book  I.  sec.  a6. 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT.         317 

worship  the  Egyptian  gods,  and  should  destroy  all 
the  sacred  animals.     Moses  next  proceeded  to  aUv 
^mself  w.th  the  Shepherds,  who  hSd  settlS^at  JerS^ 
salem.     Egypt  was  again  conquered  and  held  for 
several  years,  and  Amenophis  retreated  to  Ethiooia 
^^a\^^  *r^  ^t  ^"  Apis,  and  all  the  other' 
S^f-lf  f  T'"'  "^'^  ^""-      Manetho.  who  showed 
5 15*°  ^^  '"°t*  ^°'^•'^  *°  tl»«  Jewish  people Jn- 
?o  f   •"  ^'^''y  ?ther  fabulous  statements,  all  tendine 
to  throw  discredit  on  the  Biblical  account  of  the  S 

Ues^-'^^MLSrh"''  Josephus  denounces  is ' 'afrant 
Ma.  Manetho,  however,  admits  the  fact  that  there 
was  an  exodus  of  the  Hebrews  from  Egypt  and  thS 

SeTr  'teml'^lT"''^^  '"  ^^'^^«"«^'  wh^rS  hey  buH 
the  fSI  .^'  Jerusalem.    He  states,  however,  that 

Su  thi^K^  and  successor  of  Aahmfs.  who  drove 
out  the  Shepherd  Kings  and  founded  Dynasty  XVIH 
Amenophis  I.  ascended  the  throne  about  Jc  years 
after  the  death  of  Joseph  or  314  years  before^  the 
his  htU'  r"^  ^^^'^  P'"*^*-     W»»^"  Manetho  wrote 
of^S^Z^^J'^'^T't  "^  ^'^^  '■^^^"^  ^t  the  court 
oosition   i^H   •  -"^  "^^u^^  •?  °'^^'  *°  "'^a'^en  their 
fov^re^Vn    h.  •"J"'-^/^^"'  in  the  estimation  of  the 
sovereign,  he  manufactured   the  leper  and  kindred 
dtcfSr-     ^K  '"°"P'"e"tal  or  documentan^  ev^ 
dence  has  ever  been  discovered  to  support  his  state- 
ments relative  to  the  Exodus.     On  the  contraA.  they 

Northern  allies,  are  the  only  ones  of  any  importance 
1?^^!!^  t  M«"«Pt«h's  brief  reign.  The^e^can  be 
httle  doubt  that  he  perished  with  his  army.    The  fact 

SvJ'l  f  **  "  "°*  ?J'?''*!i'  ^^^^^^  i"  the  Mosaic  narra- 
fave  but  we  are  told  ,n  Exodus  xiv.  28  that  not  one 
01  the  Egyptians  remained  alive.  In  Psalm  cxxxvi  i  c 
we  are  also  told  that  God  overthrew  Pharaoh  and  his 


!i^;  ; 


^if 


* 


318    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

host  in  the  Red  Sea.    There  can  be  no  doubt,  there- 
lore,  that  he  met  the  same  fate  as  his  soldiers.    There 
are,  in  addition,  various  circumstances  in  Egyptian 
history  which  lead  directly  to  that  conclusion.    No 
contemporanr  records  exist  of  the  close  of  Meneptah's 
reign,  and  of  the  reigns  of  his  four  successors;  nor  of 
a  period  of  anarchy  which  intervened  before  the  rise 
of  Dynasty  XX.  the  second   Pharaoh  of  which  was 
Rameses  III.,  who  succeeded  to  a  united  throne  but 
a  distracted  empire.*    A  papyrus  document,  written 
during  his  reign,  gives  the  only  account  of  the  events 
which  transpired  in  Egypt  after  the  Exodus,  and 
during  a  number  of  subsequent  years.    Meneptah's 
son  and  heir  lost  his  life,  like  all  the  rest  of  the  first- 
bom  of  Egypt,  in  the  tenth  plague;  and  his  next 
oldest  son  was  evidently  a  minor,  who  had  little 
personal  weight,  for  we  find  that  the  vacant  throne 
was  at  once  seized  upon  by  a  distant  descendant  of 
Rameses  I.,  who  was  tfie  head  of  a  local  principality, 
or  province,  of  the  empire.     He  was  succeeded  by 
Siptah,  a  relation  apparently  by  marriage.    Seti  H., 

»  It  has  been  stated  by  several  writen,  and  ProfesMr  Savce  amone 
tbe  rest,  that  the  tomb  of  Meneptah  hai  been  discovered  in  recent 

Sars.  This  IS  not  correct.  In  1881  Maapero,  head  of  the  Cairo 
useun^  and  jts  curator  Brugsch,  dUcpvered  among  the  Theban 
tombs  of  the  Pharaohs  a  well  fi  feet  deep  from  the  bottom  of  which 
eatended  a  passage  of  225  feet  leading  to  a  large  chamber  in  which  were 

vvwi"**  J?.""J?'"  *»'  ii^K"  P"*  **'  *•  •overeigns  of  Dynasty 
Xyill.,  while  Dynasty  XIX  wM  represented  b|  i)ie  mummies  1^ 
beti  I.  and  Rameses  II.  and  III. ;  but  there  was  no  MenepUh  aitiofliit 
Uiem.  AU  these  mammies  had  been  removed  from  their  orWfial 
tombs,  and  m  some  cases  from  their  cofllns.  In  1898  a  close  survey 
was  made  of  the  valley  of  the  tombs  of  th«  kings  hear  Thebes,  when 
the  tomb  of  Amenophu  II.,  of  Dynasty  X  VHI..  waa  discovered.  Here 
also  was  found  a  large  number  of  royal  mummies  in  coffins  not 
onginally  their  own.  and  among  the  rest  the  mummy  of  Merenptah 
who  has  evidently  been  confoimded  with  Meneptah.  Meienptah  was 
the  son  of  Rameses  II.,  and  was  most  probab%  his  coadjutor  In  the 
government  for  18  years,  when  he  died  awl  waa  aucceeded  I^  Menep- 
tah, who  reigned  as  co-Pharaoh  with  Rameses  II.  untU  the  death  of 
the  latter  took  place  13  years  afterwards.  Ow^  to  the  puUic  dis- 
orders which  took  place  in  Egypt  after  the  Exodus  the  tombs  of  many 
of  the  Pharaohs  had  been  plundered  by  robbers,  and  fresh  and  aMwe 
secure  places  were  constructed  during  Dynasty  XXII.  for  their  »• 
burial.    See  Explorations  in  Bible  Lands  (191^,  pp.  685-688. 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT.        3,9 

to  which  EgvM  hS  i«^!'  JL"' "■'  P'"»W=  """"lioil 
caused  byS?J^,i  „i°  '^"'«'^'>>'«'«"'We  ruin 

»i.it«iit.^„d.h17„'Ji/„'Scti?„:??''  °"'  l:"^ 

compelled  it  to  rel«  it.  l,«u?  t*^  """">'• '"«' 
A  pSiod  of  A"Sc^iverteld''iS,!■'''T 

^^o7*^^„t£SIS^1? 

resources  of  the  countrv     a  .i-n        ^^^"''""ed  the 
low#.r<      AC    •    «^ountry.    A  still  worse  period  fol- 

by  their  judgmenL'        ^   '""'^  *°  *^*^  «»«^  '^"d 


'i 


»  Ency.  Brit,  Vol   VII.  p.  740. 
Hours  with  the  Bible,  Vol  II. 


p.  106. 


r' 


W 


I 


320    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

Munder  the  splendid  and  well-organited  empire  which 
Rameses  the  great  had  bequeathed  to  his  son  and 
successor  Meneptah  I.    From  the  highest  pinnacle 
of  her  power,  Egypt  had  descended  to  the  lowest 
depths  of  national  degradation  and  internal  disorder, 
from  which  it  never  afterwards  wholly  recovered. 
Although,  in  the  progress  of  time,  much  of  its  ancient 
strength  gradually  came  back,  and  it  once  more  pos- 
sessed a  large  and  effective  army,  it  never  again  be- 
came supreme  among  the  nations,  nor  exercised,  in 
any  wide  sense,  an  imperial  authority.    The  papyrus 
document,  to  which  we  have  already  alluded,  presents 
the  strongest  indirect  corroboration  of  the  Biblical 
narrative  which  could  possibly  be  produced.    God's 
providential  care  of  the  Hebrew  people  was  further 
shown  by  the  additional  fact,  that  the  helpless  condi- 
tion of  Egypt  after  the  Exodus  was  the  most  fortunate 
event  possible    for  them.     They  were  left  wholly 
undisturbed  by  any  fresh  pursuit,  and  remained  un- 
molested in  a  region  over  which  the  Egyptians  ex- 
ercised a  certain  degree  of  sovereignty,  and  which  lay 
close  to  the  frontier  of  Egypt,  for  the  long  period  of 
forty  years.    And  even  when  the   Hebrews  subse- 
quently entered  into  the  promised  land  of  Canaan, 
they  were  not  anywhere  confronted  by  Egyptian 
sovereignty.    Until  the  reign  of  Solomon,  476  years 
after  the  Exodus,  Egypt  seems  to  have  had  sufficient 
employment  in  ordering  its  own  internal  affairs,  out- 
side of  which  it  does  not  appear  to  have  exercised 
much  authority  in  any  direction.  When  Solomon  had 
become  Ph  raoh's  son-in-law  his  wife's  dower  embraced 
the  CanaanUish  city  of  Gezer,  which  was  captured  by 
the  Egyptian  king,  and  its  inhabitants  slain.*    This 
is  the  first  time  that  the  Pharaoh  reappears,  after  the 
Exodus,   in   Biblical   history.      The  only  Egyptian 
sovereign  of  any  note  that  arose  in  the  long  interval 
was  Rameses  III,,  the  successor  of  Setnekht  the 
founder  of  Dynasty  XX.,  who  overthrew  the  Syrian 

'  I  Kings  ix.  16. 


Ij 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT        ja, 

in  the  Red^a  and  of  th  '^'"T'i  '"^  *»'»  a^"/ 
which  preceded  it  The  tl  *°?^"'V  occurrence, 
by  Eg/pt  would  soon  leaiT/h''  P°"*^'?  ^*="P'«d 
far  and  wide,  not  onlv  amon^^'i!"'**  •**'"?  "'"'«<» 
also  in  num;rous  otKeftiL^"**^^  ""^°"''  »>"' 
principal  centre  of  the  M.J?  °"'-  ^«yP*  "'^  the 
that  day.  and  formed  ^^'^'^^''f^^'^  commerce  of 
towards  Svria    LnT»?      *  ^''*'**  caravan   highway 

Euphratef'aTd  tt^4ri,Tve";,""i&  ^^'^^^ 
downfall  would  accordinSvtr!?:i  ^"**"'gence  of  its 
all  the  principal   «il3r*'^''''*'y'P«'^"y  along 

said  Rflhais  tlr^u    '"'^'^oundmg  nations.    "  I  know  " 
the  land  faint  becaiS„f„'  "".r""  '"""""tants  of 

how  the  Lo"dS1hf  C;  o^°L""kJ3"s''r 

you.  when  ye  came  out  ofvL^l      I     u     ^**  'o*' 
unto  the  two  k?n«  of  the  A^K'.*"'*  '^'H  ^^  "^'^ 

^uXtts^'d  m:r„5tL^l.^^r'^*^^^^^^^^^^ 

more  couraee  in  anv  m!,„    k     "*  ^^^"^  '*«"'«•"  any 


.   I!- 


4 


I  i    n 


««ciocorr  rbouiton  tbt  chart 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


Li 

M2S 

LS 

■■i 

lit 

1^ 

|3j6 

in 

W 

■  40 

u 

iui 

2^ 
2.2 
2.0 

i.8 


^    ^IPPLIED  IN/MGE    Inc 

r^        165.^  East  Moin  StrMt 
a        Rochttt.r.  Nm  Yorti        14609      US* 
^        (716)  «82- 0300- Phon. 
(716)  288  -  S»B9  -  Fa. 


322    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

its  strong  defences,  made  terms  with  the  spies  to 
save  the  lives  of  her  father  and  mother  and  her 
other  immediate  relatives.  This  pathetic  narrative 
may  be  found  in  the  second  chapter  of  Joshua.  It 
not  only  illustrates  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophetic 
song  of  Moses,  but  shows  how  fully  heathen  nations 
had  been  convinced  of  the  worthlessness  of  their  own 
gods,  and  that  the  God  of  the  Hebrews  was  the  true 
Lord  of  heaven  and  earth. 

In  the  ancient  world  wars  were  usually  very  dif- 
ferent in  their  general  characteristics  from  what  they 
are  now,  and  were  frequently  attended  by  the  greatest 
cruelties,  on  the  part  of  the  conquerors.  Human 
life  and  human  liberties  were  of  little  account  in 
those  days;  and  there  was  no  Christian  sentiment 
in  existence  to  stay  the  hand  of  the  victor,  or  make 
him  more  compassionate  to  the  vanquished.  The 
Old  World  of  the  past  has  never  witnessed  such  a 
state  of  things  as  now  prevails  in  South  .Africa,  where 
the  conquerors  are  spending  millions  of  treasure  to 
rehabilitate  the  conquered;  and  to  undo,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  miseries  of  a  war  which  the  Boers 
deliberately  entered  upon  for  their  own  aggrandise- 
ment, but  which  eventuated  in  their  total  ruin.  The 
great  contests  of  ancient  times  arose  from  ambition 
and  the  greed  of  wealth.  Might  was  right  in  those 
days,  and  countries  were  beaten  into  vassalage,  and 
compelled  to  pay  tribute  to  the  over-lord.  So  long 
as  the  stipulated  tribute  was  annually  paid  matters 
usually  went  smoothly  along,  but  when  payment 
ceased  and  rebellion  ensued  the  direst  punishments 
were  as  a  rule  inflicted.^  The  principal  men  of  a  nation 

^A  tablet  inscription  of  the  Assyrian  King  Assurbanipal,  the 
Sardanapalus  of  the  Greeks,  (667  years  B.C.)  describes  the  punish- 
ments which  he  had  inflicted  on  two  rebelliou-s  cities.  "  They  brought 
me  word,"  says  that  monarch,  "  that  the  city  of  Sura  had  revolted. 
Chariots  and  army  I  collected.  From  the  rebellious  nobles  I  stripped 
off  their  skin  and  made  them  into  a  trophy.  Some  I  left  in  the 
middle  of  the  pile  to  decay.  Some  I  impaled  on  the  top  of  the  hill 
on  stakes.    Some  I  placed  by  the  side  of  the  pile,  in  order,  on  stakes. 


r 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT.         323 
S'Je'S'i^'hrAll-*-"^,!..  .o^e  cases, 

of  the   Medes    anrf   ;^^f;^,   '   "'^  P^^"^  '"  *^«  ^'ties 

obeyed  not  thTvoTce  if  S,  J^'"f  ^1"-  *^' "  ^^^^ 
transeressed  hu  I  ^  *^  ^'^'"^  ^^"  God,  but 
serJaS  of  th.T      ?°^^"^"t'  ^nd   all  that  Moses    the 

captives  evilpH   :»   u^u  i     •    "f«nren,  tne  Judean 
NeTchadnezzt   whn  H^i°"'^'  ^"""^  *^^   ^^n   of 

querors  iii«!t  ac  *i,-  t  •       f^^'^s  of  their  con- 

the  land  nf  r=.«^        -^      ^Draham  first  entered  nto 

his  skin  to  the  wall.  *""  ^  J>nneveh.    I  flayed  him,  and  pasted 

Man  J  solera  I  «ptS  JiJ^'V  '^^  '1'^  *'">  «"«*  «nd  attack, 
and  feet;  of  oth«s  I  cut  0^1^  nosTanH  "''"PP"'' i^^  "•«  ''^"ds 
the  eves  of  many.  One  pile  of  hnSf».^  ^  *!" '  *"<*  ^  destroyed 
yet  afive.  And  1  raised  another  Sf  head,  nn^.t**  U^-  ^''"^  »''«y  ''"« 
town.    Their  boys  and  their  mafH.n^TJ^V''*  """ehts  within  their 


'■s 


324    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

of  his  nephew  Lot,  roamed  in  every  direction.    The 
same  state  of  things  prevailed  during  the  davs   of 
Isaac  and  Jacob.    With  the  exception^of  a  fewTmaU 
settlements  here  and  there,  of  ^a   kindred  Sc 
people,   who   could    readily    amalgamate    with    the 
o.,?        'm'  ^^^""^'yr^s  virtually  t  vast  unoccup  ed 
pasture  wilderness.    During  the  sojourn  in  Eevltl 
different  state  of  things  arose.    Various  sLoS^SLg 
r/„.,n    "a,*'^"^!'*'^^  fo^r^  settlements  throughout 
Canaan.    Each  one  of  these  had  a  central  raSyine 
Srof^'  ^•*^:  ^^'■^"gly  fortified,  in  which  the  pop^uTa? 
toon  of  neighbouring  dependent  villages  took  refuge 
m  tomes  of  danger.     Owing  to  their  |ross  idola?  ous 
practices,  and  low  moral  condition  otherwise  of  the 
motley  settiers  in  Palestine,  their  cup  of  iniquity  had 
become  full  to  Overflowing;  and  the  Hebrew  pTopfe, 
while  reclaiming  the  country  given  to  them  by  prom' 
11:rtl,  "'^  J""*^''^^  n^^  '^^fore'  were  now  to  be 
way  whiL'r^'H""!!?''  °'^*u^'''  P^n'sh-nent.     In  this 
Kil    ^  2°i  redeemed  his  promise  to  Abraham, 
fudl^enr  ^''  inalienable  law  of  justoce  and 


.1      H 


i 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  HEBREWS  IN  THE  DESERT  OF  SINAI. 

A^^M^  ^^y  Of  probably  about  three  weeks  at 

great  host  were  miraculously  fed  by  bS' rained 

vent  their  farfj,»,  aesert,  determined  to  pre- 

thSrreS  «p  Progress,  and  presently  attacked 
wards  ?n;„.  ^^'"^'"ber,"  said  Moses  tother  rfter- 
tTee  bi^Sf  ''''''■  J7'  ^8')  "  "'hat  Amalek  did  unto 
E^nt .      A  ^^y'  "^^^^  y«  we^e  come  forth  out  of 

weTfeeble  ^S^*^,!.  ^''^'^r  ^*  °^  *^^'  ^^«"  «»  tVat 
weaJv-  !mrf  h  r**  ?^^'  ^'^^^  *h°"  "'ast  faint  and 
weary,  and  he  feared  not  God."    And  he  charged 


If  1 

i 


i. 
m 


t  §.' 


I'  III 
>1 


326    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

them  that  when  they  came  into  the  promised  land 
they  should    punish  Amalek,   for  his   inhospitality 
and  cruelty  to  helpless  women  and  children,  by  blot- 
ting out  his  name  from  under  heaven,  n  task  that  was 
afterwards  performed.     Moses  met  the  attack  of  the 
Amalekites  with  promptitu'  !e  and  skill.     He  directed 
Joshua,  who  now  appears  in  Biblical  history  for  the 
first  time,  to  choose  out  men,  and  prepare  to  fight 
the  enemy  on  the  ensuing  day.     The  battle  was  a 
long  and  fiercely  contested  one,  and  only  ended  at 
sundown.     Moses  with  the  rod  of  God  in  his  hand, 
and  in  company  with  Aaron  and  Hur,  witnessed  the 
struggle  from  a  neighbouring  hill,  where  with  uplifted 
hands  he  supplicated  Jehovah  for  victory.     "  And  it 
came  to  pass  when  Moses  held  up   his  hand  that 
Israel   prevailed,  and  when   he  let  down   his  hand 
Amalek  prevailed  "  (Exodus  xvii.  1 1),  thus  showing 
the  efficacy  ol  prayer.     So  Aaron  and  Hur  stayed 
up  his  hands  until  the  going  down  of  the  sun,  and 
Joshua  won  a  great  victory,  which  opened  the  way 
for  the  further  advance  of  the  Hebrews.     They  had 
ascended  from  the  more  arid  and  difficult  pi  rts  of  the 
desert  into  upland  valleys,  or  wadys,  where  water  was 
found  in  abundance,  and  sufficient  pasturage  for  their 
flocks  and  herds,  so  that  their  onward  progress  was 
now  comparatively  easy.     They  soon,  accordingly, 
encamped  on  the  great  plain  of   Er  Rahah   (the 
palm  of  the  hand),  4000  feet  above  the  level   of 
the  sea,  where  they  found  abundance  of  room  for 
their  tents.     It  was  the  only  point  in  the  whole  dis- 
trict that  could  accommodate  a  host  of  some  two 
million  souls.     In  addition   it  was  eminently  fitted 
by  its  environments  to  be  the  scene  of  the  stupendous 
occurrences,  as  regarded  the  future  of  mankind,  which 
were  so  soon  to  transpire  there.     The  sacred  moun- 
tain, known  in  its  different  rock  peaks  as  Sinai  (the 
jagged)  or  Horeb  (the  bare)  or,  in  other  terms,  as 
the  Mount  of  God,  towered  in  sublime  majesty,  a 
stupendous  height  of  primeval  granite  rock,  rent  by 


THE  HEBREWS  IN  THE  DESERT.    327 

some  great  convulsion  of  nature  into  deep  chasms  and 
lofty  precipices  which  at  intervals  were  surrounded 
by  a  w.ld  confusion  of  pinnacles.  Separated  from 
the  surrounding  heights  by  valleys  on  all  sides  SinS 
stood  apart,  as  it  were,  by  itself,  in  solitary  ^nd  solemn 

ticX"rom?h  'SV°^V'  •?  •'^^•S'^^  asce^nded  °STs" 
On  fh/  .t,  *^  Sebaijeh  plain  2000  feet  into  the  air. 
On  the  north,  or  Horeb  end.  a  wall  of  naked  rock 

of  the  Hebrew  camp     At  its  base  stood  a  low  bor- 
der   of  earth  mounds,  unseen  except  on   close  ao- 
proach.  which  provided  bounds  to  keep  the  people 
from  actually  coming  to  the  mountain.      In  the  lone 
and  open  sweep  of  the  plain  they  could  stand  afa? 
off.     But,  on  either  hand,  like  a  huge  altar,  the  wall 
of  rock  raised  itself  against  the  sky  line    in   f^on 
of  the   whoe  congregation.!     It  formed  an  awfu 
throne,  provided  by  the  hand  of  nature,  from  which 
the  voice  of  God  could  be  heard,  in  the  clear  moun- 
tain air.  far  and  wide  over  the  stillness  of  the  nlain 
beneath     From  all  the  information  we  possess,  it  " 

t^'r^lV  ^"^  ^'^^^  ^°"''^'"  the  world^  could  have 
furnished  so  many  accessories  for  the  kindling  of 
profound  awe  in  the  mind  of  the  spectator,  or  more 
fitted  for  the  promulgation  of  the  Divine  ordLres 

race,  from  that  day  to  this;  and  which  stand  out  so 

All  the  environments  of  the  plain  of  Er  Rahah 
were  m  harmony  with  the  purpose  for  which  the 
tSer  'th""  V^'  ^'^'''"  ^^'^  ""ducted  them 
Sinai  h  J  ?^^  'k  '"^^y  P""'  ^'^^  privations, 
bmai  had  already  been,  for  an  unknown  length  of 
time,  deemed  the  Mount  of  God  (Exodus  iii.  i).  and 
even  still  such  an  ineffaceable  sacredness  clings  to 
It,  that  great  yearly  religious  feasts  are  held  there 

Dufffvotl?J.^4S.*''"''^'*^-    Knoblc8,Exodu5,p.,89.    LifeofDr. 


I    i 


'9 


i^i  #ir! ' 


1  M 

,  i. 

i  III 

i'  J    : 

lii 

;  :i  ■ , 

'fM 

■  h  ■■ 

tJ- 


323    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

by  the  desert  tribes,  and  pilgrimages  made  to  it 
from  every  part  of  the  Arab  world.     In  such  a  place, 
every  impression  made  on  the  human  mind  could 
scarcely  fail  to  be  of  the  most  enduring  description.^ 
Safe  within  the  bosom  of  the  mountains,  the  Hebrews 
were  now  ready  for  the  higher  organisation  required 
to  constitute  them  a  free,   independent,   and   self- 
governing  nation.     In  this  direction,  their  peculiar 
relations  to  Jehovah  determined  the  character  of  the 
necessary  institutions.    He  had  redeemed  them  from 
slavery,  led  them  safely  through  the  Red  Sea,  cared 
for  them  in  the  wilderness,  and  aided  them  in  battle. 
He  had  thus  become  their  Divine  guardian,  and 
made  them  the  special  subjects  of  his  regard.    Every 
thoughtful  mind,  among  the  Hebrews,  could  scarcely 
fail  to  be  impressed  with  a  due  sense  of  the  dignity 
thus  conferred  upon  them.    No  other  people  among 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth  had  such  a  protector. 
Egypt  with  all  its  imperial  glory,  and  its  host  of 
tutelary  divinities,  had  been  humbled  to  the  dust 
before   him.      Until  now  unknown,    Jehovah    had 
shown  himself  to  be  the  only  true  God,  and  that 
the  gods  of  the  heathen  nations  of  the  earth  were 
of  no  account  whatever.    To  be  Jehovah's  chosen 
people  involved,  however,  many  obligations  on  their 
side.    They  enjoyed   this  &.nazing  honour  as  the 
descendants  of  their  ancestor  Abraham,  who  had 
left  his  native  country  in  obedience  to  the  Divine 
summons ;  and  who  had  received  the  promises,  they 
were   now  about    to   realise,   as  a  reward    for  his 
righteousness.    Like  him,  they  must  obey  Jehovah's 
voice,  and    keep  his  charge,  his    commandments, 
his  statutes,  and  his  laws.     In  order  to  secure  their 
intelligent  obedience  it  had  now  become  necessary 
that  all  these  should  be  plainly  made  known  to  them, 
and  a  permanent  religious  and  moral  standard  pro- 
vided, not  only  for  their  present  guidance,  but  for 
all  succeeding  ages.      Two  Divine  covenants  had 

*  Burckhardt's  Syrien,  p.  800. 


THE  HEBREWS  IN  THE  DESERT.    329 

already  been  made  with  mankind, -the  first  with 
Noah,  the  second  with  Abraham  a^  the  ancestorof 

Slnr^T"  -^r^"-  A  '^'"^  *»»  now  about  to  be 
established  with  the  descendants  of  the  latter    in 

as  told  Tn  kZau7  '^  ^f°'y  °^  *^^  "^*  covenant, 
dLln.  ■>  •  ^'*°*^"^;  supplies  us  with  the  most  sublime 
details  It  IS  possible  for  the  human  mind  to  conceive^ 
and  presents  us  with  the  wonderfuUpectacTe  of  the 

thdr  God  fn/  *^°'*  5^°P''  '°°'*'"g  t°  him  as 
ooenlv  to  'h^       P'-.epared    to  dedicate  themselves 

??op  e  a?ter  t'hf  r'"  "r"^  ^'^  S'^'y-  ^^"^  that 
&ieh  Priest  of  fKlP'^  ?^  l"^"y  '^^"*""«'  the  Great 
WM  to  aril  tn  iV''?'?,  ^"'"^"  '^"'  the  Messiah, 
was  to  arise,  to  make  full  atonement  for  the  trans- 
gressions of  an  erring  world  1 

IsrIefthJol!ah*^ti;'  ^'^f  hitherto  led  the  Children  of 
Israel  through  the  wilderness  now  covered  the  oeaks 
and  pinnacles  of  Horeb.  as  an  evidence  of  the  S 
presence  of  Jehovah;   and  Moses  was  directed  to 

ratTdid''"tn%rr^^  *°  *^^'"-  -ve  h:?/!:: 

Tnd  howl'  K  '^"^  message.  "  unto  the  Egyptians, 
and  how  I  bare  you  on  eagles'  wines  and  hro.JlTt 
you  unto  myself.     Now.  thieforj"!f%\"  wSl  obi^ 

shall  be  t :".?  r^'  ?^  ^''^  '"y  *=°^^"^"t'  «!en  yj 
sftall  beapecuhar  treasure  to  me  above  all  oeoole- 

I°W„'2/'  T^-  ''  '"•"^-  And  ye  shall  be  u^nto  me 
a  kingdom  of  priests,  and  an  holy  Jation.  .  .  .  AndTu 

I^rdX^h  ^"T'"^  *°S^?"'-'  ^"'^  «^>d.  All  that  the 
1-ord  hath  spoken  we  will  do."  Three  days  were 
given  to  them  to  sanctify  themselves  andS  was  J 
their  travel-stained  clothing,  so  that  they  nS?ht 
appear  orderly  and  clean  in  the  presence  ofjehovlh 
it  J  X  ""^  *°  P?''  °"  *he  third  day.  in  the  morning 
c^Jd  uoonTh:  '^""t'"  and  lightnings,  and  a  th?ck 

exceeZa   1     !i'"°""V^"**  *^^  ^°'^^  of  the  trumpet 
exceeding  loud,  so  that  all  the  people  trembled. 

»  Hours  with  the  Bible,  Vol.  II.  Part  I.  pp.  148-132. 


i 


'§'  ST 


330    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

And  Mount  Sinai  was  altogether  on  a  smoke,  be- 
cause  the  Lord  descended  upon  it  in  fire,  and  the 
whole  mount  quaked  greatly.  And  Moses  brought 
forth  the  people  out  of  the  camp  to  meet  with  God. 
(h.xodus  XIX.) 

And  now  came  the  grand  climax  in  a  wonderfully 
majestic  and  imposing  series  of  events,  which  have 
no  parallel  in  the  annals  of  the  human  race,  and 
were  emmently  designed  to  impres    mankind  for  all 
time.    From  the  summit  of  Horeb,  now  surrounded 
by  the  most  awe-inspiring  accessories,  God  personally 
spake  to  the  Host  standing  in  the  greatest  fear, 
some   1400  feet  on  the  plain   below,  and  delivered 
his  Ten  Commandments  to  guide  mankind  forever. 
Among  Jehovah's  other  enactments  the  seventh  day, 
sanctified  at  tht  Creation  as  a  day  of  rest,  was  aeain 
pronounced  holy.     "  For  in  six  days  the  Lord  made 
heaven  and  earth,  the  sea,  and  all  that  in  them  is, 
and  rested  the  seventh  day;    wherefore  the  Lord 
blessed  the   sabbath  day,  and  hallowed   it."    This 
repetition  of  the  Mosaic  account  of  the  Creation, 
personally  made  by  God,  under  the  most  solemn  and 
awe-inspiring   circumstances,   places  those    modern 
critics  who   hold  that   the  first    nine    chapters  of 
Genesis  constitute  a  mere  moral  allegorical  fable,  in 
a  very  difficult  position. 

God's  evident  original  purpose,  as  regards  the 
children  of  Israel,  was  that  they  should  remain  in 
the  Sinaitic  desert  until  they  were  fully  consolidated 
into  a  nation,  and  had  received  such  a  code  of  religious 
and  civil  law  as  was  necessary  for  their  future  guid- 
ance and  government.  It  should  always  be  remem- 
bered, however,  that  they  still  remained  perfectly 
free  agents,  and  were  left  at  full  liberty  to  accept  or 
reject  the  Divine  commands.  The  two  roads  they 
could  pursue  were  distinctly  pointed  out  to  them. 
If  they  proved  true  subjects  of  Jehovah,  fully  ac- 
cepted his  government,  and  conformed  to  his  laws, 
they  were  promised  all  manner  of  earthly  happiness 


THE  HEBREWS  IN  THE  DESERT.    331 

?h<l?.7'P'"?n-°"  ^^"^  °*^"  '^^''d'  'f  they  proved 
themselves  rebelhous  and  unfaithf. '  .-.Jehovah,  their 
sms  would  be  surely  punished.  T.^i?  great  priv' 
^ges  necessarily  increased  tl  -ir  responsibility.  The 
Hebrew  generation  that  emigrated  from  Egypt  proved 
themselves  unequal  to  Jehovah's  reauiremeSts ;  and. 
with  the  exception  of  Joshua  and  daleb,  all  d  ed  in 

oerm^i;  fnT'-  »^^^"  ^?"  ^"'^  ^aron  were  not 
Fon?  inn^  *•"*%  '"*°  ?^  promised  land.  Their 
long  bondage  in  Egypt  had  lowered  not  only  the 

Ittef.  ""?  T'u^  ^^^r^^*"^  °<"  the  Hebrews,  but 
InS  5?f  """'■!i'  P*'>'''"'  ^°""&« !  «"<!  their  pergonal 
thLfJ:^  needs  were  too  constantly  present  with 
theni  to  permit  of  tl..  growth  of  that  spirit  of  patri- 

Even  *"t^^''*"!f^7?''^  '*'=^°"e'  t°  *  "ohle  people. 
Even  their  wonderful  deliverance  at  the  Red  Sea 
does  not  appear  to  have  left  any  deep  impressions 
on  their  minds,  nor  taught  them  to  trust  sufficiently 
Innn  5  Tm''"^  *""*  °^  difficulty  or  danger.  Liki 
spoiled  children,  every  trial  of  any  magnitude  led  to 
murmurings  and  discontent,  and  the  flesh  pots  of 
E^pt  never  ceased  to  be  remembered.  But  while 
God  punished  them  for  their  sins,  he  never  ceased 
to  provide  for  their  physical  wants.  At  Sinai  their 
moral  training  was  provided  for  by  a  code  of  '.aws. 
so  wise  and  wholesome  in  their  details,  that  they 

fe  T'^  \^'  i^''  .°^  ^'  ^''"^tian  legislatS 
rheir  physical  and  sanitary  regulations  wire  emi- 
nently calculated  to  make  them  a  vigorous,  healthy 
and  prolific  race,  with  the  result  that  after  the  long 
period  of  nearly  three  and  a  half  millenniums  thi 
ii^T  people  are  still  with  us.  and  more  numerous 
now.  despite  all  their  difficulties  and  persecutions 
than  they  were  in  the  days  of  David  and  Solomon 

h  Jh  I'y  n^}^^  ^"^'  ^**^  t^^t  befell  the  host  of 
bondmen  that  fled  out  of  Egypt  is  lucidly  told  in  the 
fourteenth  chapter  of  Numbers.  Terrified  by  the 
majority  report  of  the  spies  sent  out  by  Moses  to 
examine  the  promised  land,  they  wept  in   a  very 


I'l 


11 


II 


It 


^-*mrff 


V    i?li. 


332    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

cowardly  fashion  all  the  succeeding  night,  and  next 
day  commenced,  after  their  forme?  manner,  to  mur- 
mur  agamst  Moses  and  Aaron;  and  the  whole  con- 
gregation  said  unto  them.  Would  God  that  we  had 

hi!i  J"  J  •*  'fu**  °f.FKyP*'  o""  wo"W  God  that  we 
*i^i!.^A  u  *•"!  ^'Jd^ncss!  And  wherefore  hath 
the  Lord  brought  us  unto  this  land,  to  fall  by  the 
sword,  that  our  wives  and  our  children  should  be  a 
prey?  were  it  not  better  for  us  to  return  to  Egypt? 
tnf  I J;'^  "'1°"^  to  another,  Let  us  make  a  cajtain. 
^nnf  tK.  '«*""'  '"to  Egypt.  Joshua  and  Caleb 
two  of  the  men  who  had  examined  the  land,  remon^ 
KiAn'^fl     ^I  malcontent  multitude,  told  them  that 

thtm  n  JT"*  r?*  '"'.'''  "^  ^°"«y'  ''"d  charged 
them  not  to   rebel  against  the  Lord.  who.  if  they 
truly  trusted  ih  him.  would  bring  them  victo^r.    The 
inrjmediate  answer  was  a  threat  to  put  them  to  death 
which  would  no  doubt  have  been  carried  into  effect 
by  he  craven  and  angry  people,  had  not  the  glory 
a  .jIw  Lord  suddenly  apoeared  in  the  tabernicle; 
a  sght  which  restrained  their  hands  from  this  sreat 
wickedness     "  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  How 
ong  will  this  people  provoke  me,  and  how  long  will 
It  be  ere  they  believe  me,  for  all  the  signs  which  I  have 
showed  among  them."    And  then  came  the  Divine 

Jhem'I°^'Ill'**  *^*'"?  "^'^^  pestilence,  and  disinherit 
tnem,  and  the  promise  to  make  of  Moses  a  greater 
and   mightier  nation  than  they.    The   reply  of  the 

Sn?i*  ?'T  ^""^  '*'*''*''  '^°^<^d  *  magnanimity  and 
nobihty  of  character,  unequalled  in  the  annals  of  the 
human  race;  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  embodied 
a  transcendent  example  of  eloquent  wisdom.  The 
Lord  was  reminded  how  he  had  brought  the  children 
of  Israel  in  his  might  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  that 
the  surrounding  nations  were  aware  of  all  he  had 
done  for  them,  and  how  he  went  before  them  in  the 
day-time  in  a  pillar  of  cloud  and  in  a  pillar  of  fire 

fhl  r^^i*    '^  *^^  ^^""^  ^^^^  ^"  this  people,  then 
the  heathen  nations  would  say  that  he  did  so  because 


THE  HEBREWS  IN  THE  DESERT.    333 

he  was  unable  to  bring  them  into  the  land  which  he 
had  promised  to  cive  them  "TK-  t  !!  j  •  .  * 
suffering."  continued  Mose,"  and  of  ^/^"  '°"«' 
forgiving    iniquity  and    transgression    KTa    k"'"'*'' 

the  cfficacv  of  VLk?  ^'  °^'°''*^  °'  since  was 

they  were  punished   for  their  sin  in  another  fofm 

When  Moses  had  informed  the  people  of  God's  Dur 
pose  w.th  regard  to  them,  they  ??  mSurned  gJeat'^v '• 

to  LSI  fT  "^i''  *^?",*r^''y  *°  ^''^  "'^'-ning  of  Moses 
to  attack  the  Amalekites  and  Canaanites.  who  held 

TcSnV  defeat' T^'"^  '"°""*^'"'  to  «perien  e 
a  crushing  defeat.    They  were  thus  comoelied   to 

S"as  th?f ".  '^J""'"  '''''  «"d  to  tSmlack 
agam,  as  the  Lord  had  commanded,  into  the  wilder 

yeTrslc'Ldr  G^'h^  5r^'  "^^^  "ere."  for  thr^r'ty 
l,fA  ^^"^^'^  by  God,  Moses  remained  with  them  to 
gu.de  and  care  for  them  physically  and  religioTsU° 
and  to  tram  up  a  new  Hebrew  generation,  whSh  had 

anViarlike  Zl'^TfT  °'  ^f^P*'  '"^^  ^  God  fearing 
and  warlike  people,  fully  equal  to  the  conquest  of  the 

eroeV7o'rmeH''v"°"-'^'*?'"">'  ^"^  how^admfraW; 
he  performed  his  assigned  task  was  proved  by  the 


■11 


'i( 


..--ill 


•if    i, 
M    i 


Il'l 

r^' 

t':1 

!   i 


'I 

4, 

I 


V  \ 


r  ' 


334    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

results.    The  gallant  host  which  Joshua  led  over  the 
Jordan  was  composed  of  men  of  a  very  different 
stamp  from  the  lugitive  slaves  who  had  fled  before 
the  squadrons  of  Egypt  through  the  Red  Sea.    Had 
these  fugitives  trusted  completely  in  their  Divine 
leader,  and  relied  fully  on  his  gracious  promises,  they 
would  just  as  surely  have  conquered  Canaan  as  their 
children  did  afterwards.     Every  circumstance  was 
in  their  favour.    Their  wonderful  deliverance  from 
Egypt,  and   the  destruction  of  Pharaoh's  splendid 
army,  had  greatly  terrified  the  heathen  nations,  and 
especially  those  of  Canaan ;  whose  fears  would  have 
prevented   them  from  making  any  strong  defence, 
and  render  their  conquest  a  comparatively  easy  task. 
But  the  long  interval  of  forty  years  produced  a  differ- 
ent state  of  things.    The  courage  of  the  Canaanites 
would   gradually  revive,  and   they  would   naturally 
make  every  preparation  to  resist  the  attack,  which 
they  felt  must  come,  sooner  or  later,  from  the  land- 
less host  which  lingered  in  the  wilderness.    When 
Joshua  led  his  army  eventually  against  Canaan,  the 
whole  country  bristled  with  strongly  walled  towns, 
and  every  mountain  of  any  consequence  had  its  for- 
tress.    The  Philistines  and  other  dwellers  along  the 
seacoast  had  also  made  preparations  for  the  pending 
attack,  by  building  iron  chariots,  and  placing  their 
warlike  organisations  on  the   best  possible  footing. 
The  second  Hebrew  generation  hat*  therefore,  much 
greater  difficulties  to  encounter,  in  the  conquest  of 
their  inheritance,  than  their  fathers  would  have  met 
with. 

The  distance  of  Sinai,  as  the  crow  flies,  from  the 
south  oi  Palestine,  is  not  quite  two  hundred  miles, 
but  the  mountainous  configuration  of  the  country 
makes  a  direct  advance  impossible,  and  the  windings 
of  .ae  road  add  largely  to  its  length.  The  site  of 
the  Hebrew  camp,  on  the  plain  beneath  the  sacred 
mountain,  had  been  nearly  5000  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea.    The  ascent  from  Suez  to  this  elevated 


THE  HEBREWS  IN  THE  DESERT.    335 

the  women  and  children.     But  Sll  the^e  adveSe  oc 
currences  were  soon  forgotten,  during  the  long%est 

vaiU°Tir;re.v'r'^^*  ^"j°>'^'^  -  thf  uiiani 

of  pSiura^e   *t"Jl  ^^^'^g^^ters.   and   abundance 
01  pasturage.     The  final  advance  towards  Canaan 
marked  by  successive  descents  from  Tne  mouS 

ITZIT'^"/  **^''°"^^  ^"gg^d  connecting  goS 
was  productive  of  renewed  hardships  to  the  Hebrew 
host.  It  was  literally  a  whole  nation  on  STe  marcT 
abng  the  roughest  route  it  is  possible  to  co"ceve 

Ind'old  Z  *°  ri  T""^-'  °^  ^"'"^^  beings  yoTg 
and  old,  the  extended  trains  of  beasts  and  waepon? 
w.th  the  tents  and  baggage,  the  herds  aS3  flof ks  ?n 
long  succession,  would  fill  all  the  mountain  ravines 
and  valleys  far  and  near,  and  the  progress  made 
must  have  been  alike  slow  and  toilsome?^   Adv^Sce 

jying  across  the  road,  so  a  northeastern  direction  had 
to  be  pursued  leading  to  the  Gulf  of  Akaba  which 
forms  that  part  of  the  Red  Sea  on  the  east' of  he 
Sinaitic  triangle.  As  hitherto,  the  movement  of  the 
mysterious  cloud,  which  rested  on  the  saTred  taber 
nacle.  was  the  signal  for  striking  or  pitchTng  the  tente 
of  the  camp.     When  the  cloud  lifted  iteelf  from  th^ 

trumpets.  When  the  ark  set  forward.  Moses  said  in 
a  loud  voice.  "  Rise  up.  Lord,  and  let  thine  enemies 

Sfee -"t'l;;^  V^^  I''  '""r  *^'  "^^'^  thee  flee  be?ore 
^S.'n  *^L^h°'^.  ^°st,  far  and  wide,  taking  up  the 
refrain.     At  evening,  or  when  a  suitable  resting-place 

t'^'lr'^'-^'  '^f  ^'^^""*  °^  *^«  <=I°"d  to  s\?cus! 
tomed  resting-place  on  the  tabernacle  was  the  signal 

enH^V-^"^  ^^^""'r^^  *^^  ""'^  ^««  ^n^^  "^ore  rever- 
ently laid  down  from  the  shoulders  of  its  Levke 
bearers,  the  voice  of  Moses  resounded  over  the  camp 

sandf  ffr'  ;'.??x^™'P  ^^^'^^  ""to  the  many  thoT 
sands  of  Israel."  (Numbers  x.  35.  36.)     What  a  sub- 


I  I 


336    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

IiTi^!^'"°'f  S  and  ending  to  each  day's  labours  were 

^ttl*i7Tu^'°^^^'^\'}^?'  '°  eminently  designed  to 
make  the  Hebrews  a  religious  and  God-fearing  people, 
hovkh  !?M  ^^t  ^?^«."«"t  they  had  made  with  %: 
hovah  at  Mount  Sina..  and  their  solemn  pledges  to 
submit  mphctly  to  his  government,  the  dd  leaven 
of  rebellion  and  disobedience  was  still  present  with 
tJiem,  and  at  times  brought  down  severe  punishment 

close,  and  they  stood  upon  the  borders  of  the  prom- 
ised mhen  ance;  to  be  again  compelled.  owingTo 
their  rebellion,  to  return  into  the  wilderness.  ^ 
<x  [^?'°"  <^«stined  to  be  the  home  of  the  Hebrews 
nn,f«  ?^  generation,  was  a  fairly  well-watered  one, 
possessed  a  large  area  of  pasturage  land,  and  some 
patches  of  soil  suitable  for  cultivation.  It  forms  the 
second  great  plateau  in  the  ascent  from  the  sTna  tic 
peninsula,  and  stretches  east  and  west  from  the  Med^ 
terranean  to  the  Dead  Sea.  and  from  the  mouSs 

nes-L  on  th."  '^^^^''^'^  ^J^  ^^ge  of  the  great  wilder! 
ness  on  the  south.  On  the  east  it  fringes  the  west 
side  of  the  Arabah.  with  a  line  of  cliffs  and  hiUrhi 
some  places    1400  feet  high,   and   torn   here   and 

^Zn  T  ^'^^^  ^^'S"  Jy  *h^  '°''''ents  which  pour 
down  after  rain  storms  from  the  table-lands  above. 

Si  nf  .i?PP°"'^  '."^^  °i  *^^  A^^»>»»»  rises  the  long 
o  sou  h  T^il^H  r'  °^u^f  T'  '■"""•"g  fro*"  "orth 
£^?  ^^  ^^J"^r  ^^'^  th"5'  *s  t»»eir  temporary 
Jn^V  '^^'""^  of '■oiling  plains,  out  of  which,  here 
J^? T'k'^'^^"/"  ^^'^^^    ^*ood  in  some  cases 

Se?'i*^°''^  *^"  i^^"'  °^  *h^  ^^^'  ^"d  which  over! 
looked  the  surrounding  country  in  every  direction. 
It  was  then,  no  doubt,  a  well-wooded  and  well-watered 
hlllH'  *"i*'  *  subsequent  period  was  thickly  in- 
Sl«'  ^'  ^  numerous  ruins  of  ancient  towns  and 
scinf^fP!"°''^;  ^^  *J^  P"""^"'  d^y  't  presents  a 
ron  J>  .  ^J!"°'u  "."^^  d^solat'on.  A  few  Arab  tribes 
IT^f^-lu-'^Y''  population,  and  only  two  villages 
are  met  with  in  the  entire  district.     Here  the  Hebrews 


THE  HEBREWS  IN  THE  DESERT.    337 

passed  the  long  interval  from  the  incident  of  the  rock 
^eldmg  water  at  Meribah.  to  the  commence^enrof 

ap^ea^^ore^CrtU'eS  STl^yy  t  t^ 
Srw^t^toriVo-ut  TnTt^s^rS?-^ 

mitted  no  overt  acts  against  them  ^  '  *'°'"" 

dra'Llrthan-t'h:  occ^rtcf     \SL  S  ^T^ 

of  the   residence  of  th^cSren  tf ""aJ^L^^hl 
wilderness  of  the  Red  <>Pa      VfJ     j  *^"^'  *"  *"« 

But  their  progress  was  presently  stayed  for  a  t."me 
by  an  incident  of  a  most  melancholy  and  ^ectS^ 
description.  High  above  the  hilU  in  ,!^t,^  ^ 
stand  the  wondrlus  rock  hew„  ruL  oftSra  X 
lofty  double  peak  of  Mount  Hor  is  seen  to  the  n^rS 
west  towering  into  the  clear  eastern  sW  a  huae^^c" 
of  vast  cliffs,  and  bare  rock-pinnaclestf  eve^shT/ 
On  one  of  the  heights  of  this  great  naS  ahar' 
Aaron  was  destined  to  breathe  hi/last  iSe  arms  if 
his  son  and  successor  in  the  hieh  orie^thnnS  #1 

his  faithful  friend  and  constant  mentor  thro.iah  !!! 

distance  towards  the  north     Likf  m3.  i         "*"" 
not  ,0  be  permitted  to  enter'-C^LtTectrsa"^ 

22 


!t' 


l^ 


■  :'r 


mi 


338    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

God,  "  ye  rebelled  against  my  word  at  the  water  of 
Meribah."    They  had  been  conjointly  guilty  there,  in 
a  moment  6f  passionate  presumpt'on,  of  taking  credit 
to  themselves  for  the  performance  of  a  miracle,  in 
which  they  were  the  mere  agents  of  their  Divine 
master,  and  the  punishment  for  their  sin  was  now  to 
begin.    "  Take  Aaron  and  Eleazar  his  son,"  said  the 
Lord  to  Moses,  "and  bring  them  up  into  Mount 
Hor,  and  strip  Aaron  of  his  garments,  and  put  them 
upon  Eleazar  his  son.    And  Aaron  shall  be  gathered 
unto  his  people  and  shall  die  there."    No  incident,  in 
the  annals  of  the  human  race,  could  possibly  be  more 
memorable  or  more  touching  than  the  scene  which 
now  presented  itself.    The  whole  Hebrew  congrega- 
tion had  evidently  become  aware  of  what  was  about 
to  happen,  and  grouped  themselves  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain,  in  grief-stricken  silence,  to  watch  the  result 
Presently  their  two  venerable  leaders  and  Eleazar 
commenced  the  ascent  in  full  view  of  the  great  host, 
and  by-and-by  the  summit  of  the  mountain  was  toil- 
somely won.    The  time  of  final  parting  came.    One 
can  readily  picture  to  his  mind  what  a  painful  scene 
now  ensued,  as  the  two  old  men  weepingly  embraced 
one  another  for  the  last  time  in  this  world,  and  as 
Aaron  was  painlessly  passing  away  into  his  everlast- 
ing rest.     Angels  had  probably  already  prepared 
his  grave,  and  after  the  mortal  remains  of  the  first 
Hebrew  high  priest  had  been  reverently  cared  for, 
Moses  and  Eleazar,  as  the  sacred  narrative  states, 
came  down  from  the  mount.    "And  when  all  the 
congregation  saw  that  Aaron  was  dead,  they  mourned 
for  Aaron  thirty  days,  even  all  the  house  of  Israel." 
(Numbers  xx.  29.)     A  poor  tomb,  on  the  top  of 
Mount  Hor,  is  honoured  to-day  by  the  Mohamme- 
dans as  that  of  Aaron.    It  stands  on  the  site  of  a 
much  more  elaborate  structure,  which  Christian  zeal 
had  erected  at  an  earlier  period.^     But  there  is  every 
reason  to  suppose,  that  the  exact  site  of  the  grave  of 

'  Hours  with  the  Bible,  Vol.  II.  p.  196. 


THE  HEBREWS  IN  THE  DESERT.    339 

Aaron  was  known  only  to  Moses  and  Eleazar,  and 
who  m  order  to  prevent  superstitious  practices  in 
after  times  kept  the  secret  to  themselves. 

The  Mosaic  period  of  Bible  history  was  now  grad- 
ually drawing  to  a  close.    Miriam,  the  prophetess, 
ten  years  older  than  her  brother,  whose  ark  she  had 
watched  among  the  rushes  of  the  Nile,  when  Pharaoh's 
daughter  discovered  it,  had  already  passed  away  full 
of  years  and  honour,  and  Aaron,  three  years  older 
than  Moses,  had  now  been  gathered  to  his  fathers 
The  latter  now  alone  remained  of  the  three  wonder- 
fully gifted  children  of  the  Levitc  Amram  and  his 
wife  Jochebed;  and  he  already  knew  that  his  day. 
also,  was  drawing  towards  a  close.    Meanwhile  victory 
had  crowned  the  arms  of  the  Hebrews  who  had  solidly 
established  themselves  in  the  ownership  of  wide  dis- 
tricts in  the  fertile  country  east  of  the  Jordan.     It 
now  became  his  duty  to  iustruct  the  new  generation 
which  had  grown  up  in  the  wilderness,  as  to  all  that 
Jehovah  had  done  for  their  fathers  and  for  them ;  and 
to  lay  down  definite  rules  for  their  future  guidance. 
The  Book  of  Deuteronomy,  which  represents  only  a 
brief  period  of  time,  and  which  is  mainly  hortatory  in 
Its  character,  embraces  the  final  charges  and  instruc- 
tions of  Moses  to  the  children  of  Israel.     He  com- 
menced to  deliver  these  in  a  certain  described  locality 
and  on  a  particular  day,  which  according  to  Usher 
was  in  the  145  ist  year  B.  c.     "  And  it  came  to  pass," 
says  the  sacred  narrative,  "  in  the  fortieth  year,  in  the 
eleventh  month,  on  the  first  day  of  the  month,  that 
Moses  spake  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  according 
unto  all  that  the  Lord  had  given  him  in  command- 
ment unto  them.  .  .  .  On  this  side  Jordan  in  the  land 
of  Moab,  began  Moses  to  declare  this  law."    (Deuter- 
onomy i.  3,  5.)     This  was  his  last  task,  and  its  final 
performance  marked  the  close  of  his  great  career. 
"  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses:  Behold,  thy  days 
approach  that  thou  must  die :  call  Joshua,  and  present 
yourselves  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  that 


k'i 


II 

i 

m 


i 


m 

H 


m  I 


m 


340    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

I  may  give  him  a  charge.  And  Moses  and  Joshua 
went  and  presented  themselves  in  the  tabernacle  of  the 
congregauon.    And  the  Lord  appeared  in  the  ubei! 

S-nnS  "*  *  P'  L"  °f  *  ''?"1-'  *"*^  *^«  pi"*'  of  the  cloud 
stood  over  the  door  of  the  tabernacle.  And  he  eave 
Joshua  the  son  of  Nun.  a  charge,  and  said.  Be  stfong 
3ri°  f  T^^^?.'^®"''^?*:  for  thou  Shalt  bring  the  chil- 
dren  of  Israel  into  the  land  which  I  sware  unto  theT" 

WeslTSTj:  ""YW"^'  '5.  23.)  After  solemn^, 
blessing  the  people  Moses  ascended  to  that  part  of 
ooZ'^'K  then  known  as  Pisgah.  a  high  peJk  o^ 

f?m  !1/?^*'^°•  ^^"/ o**^*^  ^"-d  miraculously  showed 
him  a^l  the  land  of  Canaan  from  Beersheba  in  the 

"And  ?h?r  '3  '^^r"^'  ?"  ^""'^  '^^^  of  the  jirdan 
And  the  Lord  said  unto  him.  This  is  the  land  which 

savJS^'  r%  ^>'""^"'"'  ""'°  ^'^''  ^^  unto  Jacib. 
saying,  I  will, give  it  unto  thy  seed:  I  have  cauS 

XSthfther^'".  '"ir'  4'  ^"*  *ou7ha?tTo1 
go  over  thither.      So  Moses  the  servant  of  the  Lord 

hLndri'r  '^\*"  ''^^^f  ^°^'''  and.  aSioSgh  oie 
hundred  and  twenty  years  of  age,  his  eye  was  not 

aiSed""The  Gor'n'^'t  T"*^^>^  or'^^h^'a"?; 
aoated.      The  God  whom  he  had  so  lone  faithfnllC 

served  buried  him,  or  caused  him  to  be  Lried  bJt 

c?ntre  oflL^l'^"'"'  ^?''^'  ^'''  '*  niight  become  a 
fCH  K      "folatrous  pilgrimage  in  after  ages.    All 
davs  ffit?  hof  .publicly  lamented  his  loss  for  thirty 
days,  a  fitting  tribute  to  their  great  leader  and  W 
giver,  who  had  so  eminently  laboured  to  ra£  them 

anTsd?ir"'i*""  "•'  ''^^'^  into  a„*°ind?pentn™ 
and  self-governing  nation.    As  the  prophet  of  God  he 
had  made  them  the  depositaries  of  gfeat  t^As  un 
known  to  the  rest  of  mankind,  and  committed  to 

7^S  rt  I^^r^^  benefactors  of  all  succeeding 
ages.  The  code  of  laws,  legal  and  moral  alike  wh  ch 
he  framed  under  Divine  instructions,  formed  tii'ebas's 
not  only  of  subsequent  Hebrew,  but  also  of  Christian 
legislation,  and  reached  an  ideal  of  excellence  whch 


THE  HEBREWS  IN  THE  DESERT.    341 

could  only  be  surpassed  by  the  higher  revelations  of 
a  new  dispensation.  His  sympathy  with  his  people 
had  always  been  of  the  most  touching  and  unselfish 
description,  and  he  could  well  say  of  himself  that  he 
had  borne  them  as  a  nurse  bears  a  child.  His  public 
position  had  never  been  used  in  any  form  for  his  pri- 
vate benefit,  and  at  the  close  of  his  career  he  could 
honestiy  boast  that  he  had  never  laid  his  hand  upon 
any  man's  property,  nor  did  an  unjust  or  dishonour- 
able act  His  nobility  of  character  was  never  tar- 
nished; and  he  stands  out,  morally  and  intellectually, 
as  the  great  beacon  light  of  his  race  throughout  all 
Its  generations,  from  that  day  to  this,  while  the 
Christian  and  Mohammedan  worlds  pay  equal  rever- 
ence to  his  memory. 


^1 


I 


-H 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM:   TTS  ORIGIN,  AND  ITO 
PURPOSES. 

We  can  only  give  it  the  same  brief  treatment  that  *« 

t.o„  all  evidence  in  the  case  that  doe!  not  rest  ?ion 

ence  or  ;ea:on"Hf  "*'^  P""??^'  ^°""^  inductive  in?er 
Stc'teH  '^f  °"^^'^  supposition,  should  be  promptly 
rejected  In  a  court  of  law  evidence  restine  mere Iv 
on  speculative  opinion  would  not  be  entertaLd  for  a 
moment;  and  similar  evidence  relating  to  the  errancv 
or  inerrancy  of  the  Bible,  and  matters  of  our  reS 
behef  should  not  have  the  slightest  weight  with  an v 

Christian  religion,  has  any  cause  to  fear  the  open  or 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  343 

secret  attacks  of  infidelity,  no  matter  what  their  char- 
acter may  be,  scientific  or  otherwise.    Both  have  out- 
hved  all  sorts  of  assailants  for  nineteen  hundred  years, 
and  will  as  certainly  continue  to  outlive  them  in  the 
future,  just  as  they  have  in  the  past.    In  proof  of 
this  fact  we  may  point  out  that,  in  our  own  day,  the 
progress  of  science  and  new  physical  discovery  are 
already  largely  discrediting  many  of  the  speculative 
theories  propounded  by  the  brilliant  school  of  ag- 
nostic » thought,  which  flourished  in  the  latter  half  of 
the  past  century,  and  which,  for  the  time  being,  took 
the  world  so  completely  by  surprise.    When  one 
now  thmks  this  matter  over,  calmly  and  intelligently, 
It  can  scarcely  fail  to  be  wondered  at  that  mere  spec- 
ulations of  the  most  airy  description  could  ever  have 
achieved  so  much  importance.    The  only  explana- 
tion of  the  phenomena  is  the  general  credulity  of 
human  nature,  which  pours  so  many  fortunes  into  the 
pockets  of  the  knavish  patent-medicine  makers  of 
our  own  times. 

As  the  nineteenth  century  drew  towards  a  close, 
religion  had  commenced  to  recover  from  the  sledge- 

»  Atheism,  a»  now  understood,  mar  be  classed  under  three  heads, 
namely,  denial  of  the  existence  of  God,  denial  that  God  has  been 
shown  to  exist,  and  denial  that  it  can  be  shown  that  God  exuts. 
Atheism  IS  an  anaent  term.  Old  Greek  writers  applied  it  to  the  infi- 
dels and  sceptics  of  their  day,  who  declined  to  believe  in  the  gods  of 
their  mythology;  and  the  early  Christians  were  termed  atheists  be- 
cause they  refused  to  acknowledge  the  Pagan  deities  of  Rome. 
Agnosticism  on  the  contrary  U  a  modem  term,  invented  in  136-)  by 
Huxley,  who  shrank  from  being  classed  as  an  atheist  or  infidel. 
While  professing  to  disclaim  atheism  he  avowed  his  belief  in  the 
unknown  God  which  St.  Paul  mentions  (Acts  xvli.  23)  as  beina 
alluded  to  in  an  inscription  on  a  Greek  altar  at  Athens,  and  held 
that  the  origin  of  ^1  things  must  be  owing  to  some  cause  unknown 
or  unknowable.  His  belief,  accordingly,  comes  clearly  within  the 
•cope  of  the  last  two  clauses  of  the  above  definition  of  atheism. 
Ihe  term  agnostic  was  a  shrewd  and  convenient  expedient.  It 
enabled  Huxley  to  avoid  the  unpleasant  personal  conflicts  which  a 
direct  denial  of  Christian  belief  respecting  God  must  lead  to,  and  also 
Mrmitted  him  to  reserve  his  opinion  on  matters  not  known  or  proved. 
Mis  belief  was  rightly  termed  by  some  of  his  antagonists  as  cowardlr 
agnosticism,  on  the  ground  that  it  merely  formed  a  screen  behind 
wmcb  he  concealed  his  true  atheistic  opinions. 


ttl 


I\r 


344    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

luunmer  blows  it  had  received  from  the  Huxlev- 
Darwin  agnostic  clasa  of  the  general  infidel  scS 

.ny.o"u[too?or"''*"5  "''^"^'^^  noS    without' 
™:       *Pu°' ^"^  *°""**  •'e»«on  ^  rest  upon,  were 

Sopl?  2  of  n":'^  f  ""*L'y  regarded.  b;°hinkr;j 
people,  as  of  no  value  whatever.  But  while  thi« 
convalescent  period  of  sound  and  sober  hrght  had 
begun  to  securely  establish  itseli;  and  reliSou?  belief, 
were  largely  returning  to  their  normd  f  onditiSn   a 

on  w»e  Bible  and    Christianity.    That  attack   wa« 
from*Si'i:  ^J^T*^^'  l^V' this  time  it  L  S,t  comi 

recent    oShn'."^  °P"  '."^^'"^y'  "*'  ^'^^^  those  of?t! 
recent   offshoot,  agnosticism.    On  the  contrary    it 

forTdoT  *5"  ""'*'  °^  P~f"'<=d  friends'wi  £<^' 
SSLn-r.^/  dangerous,  and  exemplified  the  moral  of 

f^^tLJ^^T'  :^^  °P*"  ^°*^  may  prove  a  curse,  but 
a  pretended  friend  is  worse."    It  may.  accordinely 

the  Old  ?";''"**  "*  *  ^.*"''  movementrmade  aS 
tw5  T?«tam«t  scriptures,  and  the  ChristianibJ 
therefore  of  which  they  form  the  foundation,  by  un? 
Zt\  P''°fe«ors.  leading  clergymen  of  one  P^otel 
?nHK ''"!:?  °'  '^°^^^''  P'^''>""d  Hebrew  scho^a^ 
and  by  other  veo^  clever  cle.  J  people,  who  dishon- 
cs  ly  shelter  themselves  behind  the  Jcr^en  of  deco- 
rous religion.  This  is  the  class  of  persons  who  now 
large^r  represent  what  has  come  to  be  known  inT 

«"V;T"'  "*  ^^  "•^^*^^  Criticism  Cult  -a  cLlt"  I^ 
regret  to  say  that  to^lay  wields  a  wide  intellectu^ 
mSuence  in  the  New  World  as  well  as  irthe  Old 

iT^hf^  "f  *'°"  .°l  **°  «g°  German  literature  wm 
^ghtiy  esteemed  by  the  schoolmen  of  other  cointrTe^ 
But  matters  in  that  direction  have  grwtly  chS 
m  recent  years.  The  German  langufge  his  become 
GeIm!n"l!.V-"^^  in  co„eges  and  universities  and 
nhT  J-^T'"^  ^"^  literature,  especially  in  their 
philosophical  aspects,  now  exercise  a  great  influence 
on  some  of  the  leading  clerical  literati  of  England 
and  impress  them  in   a  variety  of  ways.    /S  the 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  345 

GeriD^  philosophical  mind  if  very  apt  to  ascend 

nto  the  upper  region  of  e> -remes;  and  dealsTe^ 

argely  at  times  in  the  extravagant  and  thrsensS^ 

iT''i.'**,  ««»'ng  influence  on  the  Engl?»h^"nd 

naturally  leads  to  the  development  anew  of  simUar 

m?v\.'^'TV°^M?"?  '*  the  Higher  Critic  smCulJ 
may  be  best  described  as  almost  wholly  a  German 

from  ?»  f  "*  •"'.  ^"•"*"  philosophical  idTi; 
from  the  Kant  period,  down  to  tlie  present  day.  have 
been  widely  based  on  rationalistic  lines,  it Ts  only 
reasonable  to  expect  that  the  new  cult  should  rest  on 
a  similar  foundation.' 

«^:^  ^f  Phrwe  Higher  Criticism  is  a  modern  one,  and 
!?,^5  iT  '"?'"  ""^y  not  accordingly  fully  under- 
sund  Its  true  character,  we  had  better,  at  this  stage 
of  our  argument,  enquire  as  to  what  it  really  means  Ir 
represents.  The  latest  dictionary  that  we  can  Uy 
our  hands  upon  just  now,  is  that  published  by  the 
Chambers  of  Edinburgh  in  1901.  It  states  that  the 
Higher  or  historica  criticism  as  distinguished  from 
the  textual  or  verbal  criticism,  is  the  enquiry  into  the 
composition,  date  and  authenticity,  of  the  books  of 

tSu^S  v"™  t*>'»t°""l  °f  literary  point  of  view, 
i  nis  definition,  however,  scarcely  embodies  the  pre- 
cise composite  idea  of  the  phrase,  and  we  had  better, 
therefore,  see  what  the  specialists  have  to  say  aboui 

1  fi«^K  r'"  ^^'"  r^^  ****=  '***'  ^«»n  Farrar,  who  was 
a  firm  beheyer  m  the  new  cult,  but  at  the  same  time 
of  moderate  speech  in  its  behalf,  and  always  a 
reverent  and  devout  Christian:    "The  Higher  Criti- 

InA'J^u  f\'  "  "°!'  ^  ?*"y  ''"^S'ne.  an  arrogant 
and  self-laudatory  title.  It  merely  means  the  criti- 
cism  which  IS  not  purely  linguistic  or  philological, 

Mnaed  among  the  clerical  order  n  Germany  we  mav  «taf»  »^» 
%"o'^iv*K',!f"  Waldenburg.  writing  in  .Arin^prraS  .a^. 
•tni  1^1"'^  •"?*?"*  *'"e'*  'Geological  professor  in  Germanv  who 
•till  believes  m  the  inerrancy  of  Scrioture  "■    Wi»hin  .  7.-.    7  '    •  ? 

s::s^c?^krHtherc£^sr.^"^^^ 


1} 


It 


346    THE  SUPREMACY  OP  THE  BIBLE. 

Wstory  and  «rch»ology,  the  teachings  of  comparative 
n^fc';?^*"  con.lder.«on  of  the  ordlna^^la^  of 
Ind  of  K  **'  '*«=r*"**'y  ^'fwnlswon,  of  psycholoor 
and  of  human  literature."*    "The  name "  laJH  I?; 

••  tu'  retdTr^^^if  *'•  HjghV Scirm'cS ; 

m^y  S:J  xirrJtj  i^is  ttu^cti:?.^^ 

X'Tt'tr/'n*  rJ"*-    ThVttrml'rd^'m"! 
f  il  *'••*  Jhe  .tudy  of  the  contents  of  a  book  is  a 

5S-!  R     o  u       ^'^^  '**«    eminent   Presbyterian 
divine,  Dr   Robertson  Smith,  who  in  1880  wm  d«s 

ilwtrt^'l  r^T'^^'r^^'^ir,  at  Aberdeen  Univt 
r^:i:°   ^"  ^'^t^rp^^o't  opinions,  describes  the  Hieher 

s^Sy ''^.  Bibl^c;;:l?'*"?^*'■?E*^"'«*  °^  ^{,35 

siuay.       Bible,  criticism,"  said  he,  "  is  a  branch  of 
i.  .  w'J  »«='«"=«'/nd  I  hope  to  convince  you  that  t 

in  J  ST,***  fu"**  "'"'f-'y  science,  which  musfcon- 
Ih^UM    '**!.  *5'  attention  of  all  who  go  deep  into 
Shl£'.l  '•  -"^  ^^"^  ■"''  f^°"  °f  *h«  B'We.  ifthere Ts  any 
£ni*'*!i.'*';''"'=\"*  ^^^     't  ^0"W  be  affectation  to 
i^oon  ««*  '^f  S'^**  •"  »»y'"«  »°  •»"<=»»  I  at  once  enter 
Sifm  k"**  ^'^  controversy.    The  science  of  BiblicU 
criticism  has  not  escaped  the  fate  of  every  science 
wWch  talces  topics  of  general  human  interest  for  iS 
subjec   matter,  and  advances  theories  desSve  of 
current  views,  upon  things  with  whichTvenr  one  is 
conce^.'?^  '"  ^^''•^  '"'"^  ^°*  ^^  »ome'?rac«c2 

eiv^en'bJMm/;i?^>""*'"°"  °^  '^f  "'«»'«'  Criticism 
Fn^H.K^  u  *  °^'*'  '"°''*  moderate  and  cautious 
English  teachers,  who  do  not  desire  to  break  off  alt^ 
gether  from  the  old  reverent  beliefs  in  the  ScrbturM 
In  this  respect  their  method  is  wholly  different  from 
the  aggressive  and  irreverent  way  in  which  German 

i  cJJ^'rTh?Ri!iV'*',".l^.^'"'5«  »•"*  Supremacy,  p.  133, 
I  olll.      f  ?„\"'*  °'  ">«  Standpoints,  p.  8.  "** 

Robertwn'.  The  Old  Testamentin  th/jewiah  Church,  p.  ,. 


I -ft  ii.^JBf'   . 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  347 

•nd  even  English  extremists  present  their  case.    We 

English  specialists  who  are  opposed  to  the  Higher 
RoS"c!,T*  *?  ^y  I"  S«  remises.  The  Rev.  Dr 
i^HHS^rV^' ^»™»»'i*'B'^ Universin-.  asks,  "  What 
DrJI  ft! ^S•"^'"""•  *,"*•  ^"^  "^^  "'Bher  Critics  ? 
^J^liS^^'^u''^  'f^^'  ***  something  appertaining 
to  the  critics  themselves,  or  has  it  merely  reference 

Uttir  «"!*"•'*  ?^  1^'  ^^''^  ^  Needless  to  say  Jhe 
Utter  meanmg  IS  the  true  one:  the  higher  is  oppowd 
to  a  lower  criticism,  which  is  simply  textual.    The 

ZVJJ  ??"!.'  ''"^''^  °""P'"  ^'•'""•f  ^ith  settling 
SrinJ.  L  I-  ^°*="™«"t'  on  the  basis  of  such  manu- 
•cripts  of  his  original  as  are  available  for  him,  together 
with  ancient  translations  where  there  are  an  J,  or 
quotations  of  the  document?  in  succeeding  writers. 
The  higher  critic  aims  at  more  than  this.  He  does 
not  simply  ask  what  is  the  best  text  I  can  get  of  this 
work  on  such  evidence  as  is  attainable  by  me,  but  he 
takes  up  the  whole  of  the  literary  histonT.  Who  was 
tije  autfipr  of  this  book?    WherTdid  heTJVe?    When 

.vXJ  •!  **?"'*'?  Howfarthc.1  can  it  be  disintegrated 
into  Its  original  sources,  and  the  like?    The  man  who 

lli!ZT^f  *°  P''°.''H«  the  best  text  that  can  be 
P^nVi.,  P  •°'"  ?'4^"K  materials  of,  shall  we  say, 
Pericles,  Prince  of  lyre,  is  a  lower  or  textual  critic. 
The  man  who  seeks  to  make  out  by  any  critical 
investigation  in  his  power  whether  and'^how  far  Pert 
cles  IS  a  work  of  Shakespeare  may  call  himself,  be 
the  conclusion  he  comes  to  what  it  may.  a  higher 

fn   m;  ii"  v'  **''^"!,f  ,^"«<^  is  a  judge,  a  higher  critic. 

n  this  definition,  will  be  one  who  weighs  all  available 

.iterary  evidence  on  all  possible  questions  that  can 

arise  as  to  his  document."  ^    "  Higher  Criticism."  says 

^Lrf""'  ^'■'  S'»""^«/^'  "  «  a  critical  enquiry  into  the 

nature,  origin   and  dates  of  the  documents  of  the 

oiblc,  and  a  close  investigation  into  their  value  and 

*  Sinker's  Higher  Critidtm,  etc..  pp.  i,  2. 


('  il 
I 


348    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

credibility;  or,  as  Professor  Briecs  nuts  it   •  H«  • 
secured  the  best  text  of  the  writ"nM  fi^Silr  r?f  •  -'"^ 
devotes  itself  to  the  hioi,-,  *,  i     f  '  "'Bher  Criticism 

wilT^bfeo„T„aS*±7  of*',  "ie""  CriUcism 
character  and  a™w/"p?™^  °  jL'?  """'««  «f  ^ 

icgaraea.        I'eople   talked    about    Soinoyp »    e^tj 

Testa±.  *''°  *^'  ^^^'"^  ^'^torical  books  of  the  ofd" 
ahst  Jean  Astruc.  an  eminent  but  immoral  French 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  349 

.frSi""  N°*  **<:«™»"g  it  Pnident  to  have  his  opin- 
ions  known  at  Pans,  where  he  resided,  he  published 
^onymously  ,t  Brussels,  in  ,753.  his  "  Conjectures 
as  to  the  Original  Memoirs  of  which  it  appears  that 

JSrnr'^K     i,T-i?u*=°?P°'/  *^^  ^""^  of  Genesis." 
Astruc  s  book  laid  the  clear  foundation  of  the  existing 
doctrines  of  the  Higher  Criticism.     He  recognised  jS 
Genesis    two   main   sources  of   information,  which 
for"ihe  hnoT'^  A  ^^"'/^"P^ons,  the  entire  material 
for  the  book.     One  of  these  sources  he  distinguished 
by  the  term  Elohistc,  from  the  name  Elohim  used 
lor  God  in  Genesis  1.  5  and  Exodus  vi.  3;  the  other 
by  the  term  Jehovistic.  from  Jehovah  (Lord),  used  in 
St"T.  "•  t    Astr"c's  conjectural  scheme  rests  on 
the  alternate  use,  in  the  sacred  narrative,  of  those 
Divine  names;  and  he  accordingly  gives  us,  in  two 
parallel  columns,  the  particular  verses  which  should 
be  credited  to  each  writer.     He  also  points  out.  that 
there  are  ten  other  portions  of  Genesis  which  rest 
upon  separate  sources.     In  certain  passages  of  the 

TJJ  ?K  -^^  °"'"S"  ^^*="  *"P"^*t«  sourcfs  seem  to 
make  their  appearance,  although  the  absence  of  the 

to  either  of  the  main  divisions;  while  in  Genesis  xiv. 
and  xxxvi.  we  are  confronted  with  facts,  in  duplicate, 
which  are  not  directly  connected  with  Israelitish 
history.  Astruc  further  supposes  that  Moses,  when 
composing  Genesis,  arranged  his   materials   in  four 

frT"i  •.•°^"'""^'  ^"'^  ^'^^t  *=«rtain  chronological 
uregularities  are  not  due  to  him.  but  to  the  nlgli- 
gence  of  transcribers,  who  had  run  these  columns  into 
one  continuous  text.    Although  his  ideas  were  largely 

to  h^  ^^r;  ^11  ^^  V^  ""^^'^  *°  ^'^Pl*'"  the  limits 
to  be  set  to  the  subsequent  work  of  the  redactor, 
they  commanded  much  attention  at  the  time  Thev 
especially  commended  themselves  to  the  German 
philosophical  mind,  then  in  a  condition  of  moSflux" 
and  were  presently  seized  upon  by  Dr.  Eichhorn 
professor  of  theology  in  the  University  of  Gbttingen; 


11 '. 


350    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

many  eminent  scholars  of  his  own  dav  LA  «f     t 
quent  tinier   h*  «,«.  '"' "**"  aay,  and  of  subse- 

*iucm  umes,  He  was  a  confirmed   farlrlief-    ,«j   u- 

of  ^Hfeh"r'cri«Sr''?,''T,'''''  *'  German  School 

2;o^  f AeS^=;^„„tSt  §,?t^-U-of 

.0  find  any  true  hUtory  „ha.ev«t7u'evcS  booSf 

'  Ency.  Brit.,  Vol.  VII.  p.  788. 


'II II 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  351 

all  is  legend  and  poetry.    He  placed  the  composition 
of  Deuteronomy  in  the  reign  of  King  Josiah,  and 
pronounced  it  to  be  the  most  recent  addition  to  the 
Fentateuch,  mstead  of  being  the  oldest,  as  had  been 
previously  supposed.    The   Pentateuch,   he   added, 
was  not  an  authority  for  the  time  in  which  it  wai 
said  to  have  been  originally  written,  but  only  for 
the  time  m  which   it  actually  was  written.     While 
De  Wette  was  extremely  heterodox  in  his  religious 
opinions,  his  rationalism  was  always  of  a  moderate 
type.    As  a  Biblical  student  and  critic,  he  exercised, 
accordin;    to  Wellhausen.i  a  powerful   influence  on 
contemporary  German  thought;  and  for  a  number 
of  years,  the  Higher  Criticism  writers  of  his  country 
wrote  under  that  influence.    Meanwhile  De  Wette 
had  got  into  serious  trouble  with  the  Prussian  govern- 
ment.   Kotzebue,  a  German  dramatist,  who  eventually 
achieved   a  high  position   in   Russia,  was  a  ereat 
favourite  with  its  Emperor.  Paul  I.,  who  created  him 
a  councillor  of  state.    In  18 16  he  was  attached  to 
the  department  of  foreign  afi-airs  at  St.  Petersburg. 
In  the  following  year  he  was  sent  to  Germany  to 
watch  and  report  upon  the  progress  of  matters  there ; 
and  commenced  the  publication  of  a  weekly  news- 
Pf??*"  to  h'<le  the  true  object  of  his  mission.    Some 
of  his  editorials,  written  in  the  interests  of  despotism, 
caused  him  to  be  intensely  disliked  by  young  German 
enthusiasts  for  liberty,  one  of  whom,  Karl  Ludwig 
band,  in  1819,  stabbed  him  to  the  heart  in  his  own 
house.     Sand  was  promptly  executed  for  his  crime; 
and   the   universities    placed   under  a  close  police 
supervision  to  prevent  its  repetition.     De  Wette  was 
so  imprudent  as  to  write  a  letter  of  consolation  to 
band  s  mother,  in  which  her  son  was  painted  as  a 
martyr  for  liberty,  which  by  some  means  came  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  government.     The  king,  ac- 
cordingly, not  only  deprived  De  Wette  of  his  pro- 
fessor's chair,  but  banished  him  from  Prussia.    He 

»  Ency.  Brit.,  Vol.  XVIII.  p.  505. 


I 


352    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

remained  in  exile  for  the  remainder  of  his  hfe  and 
died  m  June.  1849.  Neither  his  death  nor  misfortunes 
however,  checked,  for  any  great  len^h  S  i^T^u  ' 

There  Vatke,  Reuss.  Graf,  and  several  lesser  S 
by-and-by  stepped  into  the  breach;  wwSIhe  flol- 
lander.  Kuenen.  came  to  their  assistance.  The  school 
of  German  agnosticism,  founded  to  disprove  the 
historical  authenticity  of  the  Gospels.  aXr  much 
labonous  enquiry  not  only  failed  iS  its  object?  but 

contenLr'rt'^'.M''"*^  ^^  the  opposite  side  of  its 
contention.  The  philosophers  of  this  school  found  a 
congenial  safety-valve,  for  their  disappointment  in 
tfie   doctrines  of  the    new    cult.      Old   TeTmeit 

r^e'rcT  "tU  h's'  ^  ^^^  ?--"*  of  eUSonTJ 
research.    The  Hebrew  Bible  was  ransacked  from 

flmS  Perseverance,   was   microscopically  ex- 

am ned,  verse  by  verse,  and  even  letter^  by  lette? 
n  the  search  for  flaws  of  composition,  discrepancies' 

iw°  wSc°h'"  °**^S  ^"Pr^^^  ^"-i  historS  o 
AsaSuTt  fn\  °^"''l'i^  damaging  to  its  character. 
AS  a  result,  in  part  at  least,  of  all  these  labours  the 
doctrines  of  the  Higher  Criticism  were  now  gradually 
Elohfst  cff  r   *=°'?^°''^ated.    The  connection  of  the 

Soks  of  fhe"T'\^f  ?"  ^*^^^^**'°"  °f  the  middle 
the  Rnnlf  5  r  ^^"*at«"ch,  was  clearly  recognised: 
the  Book  of  Joshua  was  added  to  the  latter-  and  in 
the  future  the  whole  six  books  were  to  be  known 
f\  V?  "«f^"<=h.  It  was  now  generally  heldTat 
the  Elohist  had  written  the  prim£y  narrative  of  the 
first  four  books  of  the  Pentateuch  and  Joshua  This 
narrative  was  afterwards  used  by  the  Jehovist  author 
who  made  various  additions  thereto;  ind  tie  work  of 
both  writers  was  subsequently  revised  and  welded  to- 

KhvT  ^^  ^^''^.^"^y  redactor:  or  redactors,  about  the 
Babylonian  Exi he  period.     The  Elohistic  and  Jeho! 

existence  of  the  kingdoms  of  Judah  and  Israel.    The 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  353 

Book  of  Deuteronomy  was  the  work  of  an  entirely 
different  author,  and  had  most  probably  been  cS 
f  hlthoTo^f  ?*  '■'•^°  °^  Manasseh.  Kiig  of  Judah. 
iJ^tZtfnA  ^''"^'"  ir^  repudiated  as  mere  worth- 
of  hi^S-  TK  ""'°"?'*  tradition,  entirely  unworthy 
of  ^!n  }\u^'^^.  ?P'*=  °f  ^'^^  Creation,  the  faU 
rL^^'  ^?u  *^^  ?.'^'"*^  P'"°'"'^«  °f  his  eventual 
redeemer  the  graphic  and  wonderful  story  of  the 
Deluge,  the    dispersion   at  Babel,  the  rise  of    he 

tr^If  .f"?!?"!  °^  *^  ^°'''^'  *h*^  patriarchal  por- 
traits  of  Abraham.  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  the  touching 
biography  of  Joseph,  and  the  flmine  of  Egypt,  ^1 
SfiUr  V^i"  ^"  '"i^*^  ''"^'"»  h»"ds  of  the  German 
true  lesson  of  the  remote  past  to  the  living  world  of 
fLr'T  ^^y-  ^^^^^  «  f^"^  historical  facts  hi 
rf^n^""'  ^^n*'*^"''.  ^"'^  Numbers  are  permitted  to 
stand  unchallenged,  everything  in  the  ihape  of  the 
miraculous  is  entirely  eliminated,  and  even  the  plagues 

iL^E^   Q '*  P^?"^'   "°  ^°"S«'  hut   mere  idle 
legends.      Several  important  features  of  the  New 

ot  the  Old.    The  Arian  heresy  is  revived   in  the 

?hni'     -^u    ""^  ^'"P""^'  °^  **»^  I^'^>"«  humanity  of 
iirr  fli'f  PO'sonous  religious  leaven,  put  into 

Sir     !i  ^"°"^  i^^  theological  life  of  the  German 
fatherland,  is  rending  asunder  the   grand  old   Lu- 

Sfplf    "'?•  ^^"^'^^^  ^y  *^^  <"°'-«'n°st  apostle  of 
toe  Reformation,  who  stood  ready  to  lay  down  his 

ftotesLi^"  f"***'  ^"^  '^  "taking  sad  havoc  among 
Thf  K  •  /'[^'P'^^?  generally  in  both  hemispheres 
The  brief  historical  sketch,  which  we  have  presented 
to  our  readers,  will  enable  them  to  form  a  clear  ?dea 
of  the  rise  and  progress  cf  ;he  Higher  Criticism  Cult 
SJi^™f>:',^hose  peculiar  literary  idiosyncrasy 
formed  a  fruitful  soil  for  its  abundant  culture.  Mean- 
while,  as  we  have  already  pointed  out.  a  great  chanee 
had  been  gradually  unfolding  itself  in  England.  Wifh 
the  study  of  the  German   language  came  a  higher 

*3 


i 


354    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

appreciation  of  German  philosophy  and  literature. 
So  the  doctrines  of  the  Higher  Criticism  Cult  gradu- 
ally won  their  way  into  the  realms  of  English  relig- 
ious thought,  and  men  of  profound  learning,  great 
Hebrew  scholars  especially,  became  its  ardent  dis- 
ciples, and  bowed  down  before  the  intellectual  image 
it  had  set  up  for  their  worship.     The  combined 
English  and  German   Higher  Criticism  forces  very 
soon  displayed  the  greatest  activity  and  zeal  in  prop- 
agating their  doctrines.     Their  eminent  scholarship, 
acknowledged  literary  ability,  and  high  positions  in 
universities  and  other  foremost  educational  institu- 
tions opened  up  to  them  all  the  principal  avenues  of 
intellectual  influence.     Professor  J.  Sutherland  Black, 
as  the  assistant  editor  of  the  ninth  and  last  edition  of 
the  "  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,"  and  head  of  its  resi- 
dent staff,  freely  opened  the  columns  of  that  great 
national  work  to  his  brethren  of  the  Higher  Criticism 
Cult,  during  the  fifteen  years,  extending  from  1873  to 
1888,  it  was  passing  through  the  press.     The  result 
was  that  a  large  part  of  its  principal  articles  on  Bibli- 
cal history  and  literature,  were  written  by  members  of 
that  cult  —  German  and  English  —  who  were  thus 
given  free  scope  for  the  circulation  of  their  opinions, 
so  poisonous  in  many  cases,  in  the  Old  World  and 
the  New.    The  "  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  "  has  had  a 
vast  circulation  over  the  English-speaking  portions 
of  the  world,  and  the  mischief  done  by  its  Higher 
Criticism  contributors  must  accordingly  be  very  great. 
In  addition  to  this,  the  leading  English  Higher  Critics 
have  a  peculiar  faculty  of  christening  their  books  in 
such  a  way  as  to  lead  clergymen  especially  to  buy 
them.    Robertson  Smith,  for  example,  calls  his  prin- 
cipal work  on  Higher  Criticism,  "  The  Old  Testament 
in  the  Jewish  Church ;  "  Canon  Driver  calls  his  work 
of  the  same  character  "  An  Introduction  to  the  Liter- 
ature of  the  Old  Testament,"  while  Canon  Cheyne 
calls  the  important  work  of  which  he  is  the  chief 
editor,  and  the  largest  contributor,  the  "  Encyclopaedia 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.   355 

Biblica."    These  are  all  admirably  written  productions, 
and  contain  some  valuable  information  for  the  Bibli- 
cal student,  who  is  competent  to  separate  the  wheat 
pom  the  tares,  and  declines  to  be  influenced  by  the 
latter.    But  the  difficulty  is  that  numbers  of  our  clergy- 
men and  university  students  are   but  slenderly  ac- 
quainted with  Hebrew  or  the  different  departments 
of  science,  and  chiefly  stand  upon  their  theological 
trammg.     They  surrender  their   intellects,    unthink- 
ingly, perhaps,  to  the  able  arguments  of  the  enemy; 
and  fail  to  realise  the  dangerous  and  false  conclusions 
to  which  they  so  often  lead.     When  the  reader  looks 
below  the  surface,  he  will  find  that  Robertson  Smith 
and  Driver  are  thoroughly  saturated  with  all  the  doc- 
trines  of  the  German  Higher  Criticism  Cult.    They 
constantly  quote  from  even  its  most  extreme  writers, 
reproduce  all  their  arguments,  and  present  precisely 
the  same  conclusions,  with  little  or  no  variation.     Not 
even  content  with  this,  they  resolve  themselves  into 
a  mutual-admiration  society,  and  are  continually  com- 
plimenting one  another  on  their  erudition  and  ability. 
Neither  the  German  nor  English  critics  present  us 
with  a  Divine  Bible,  whose  text  and  historical  set- 
tings are  made  clearer  and  better  by  honest  building- 
up  and  friendly  criticism,  but  they  present  us  instead 
with  a  discredited  human  Bible,  its  text  torn  into 
shreds,  and  utterly  unlike  the  book  we  have  been  so 
long  taught  to  love  and  reverence.     That  numbers  of 
clergymen,   of  orthodox  creeds,  are  now  willing  to 
accept  the  fragmentary  and  emasculated  Bible  pre- 
sented to  them  by  the  Higher  Criticism  Cult  is  a 
truly  lamentable  fact.     The   danger   to  evangelical 
religion  is  greatly  added  to  by  another  fact,  to  wit, 
that  men  whose  principles  have  been  tainted  by  the 
new  doctrine  are  permitted  to  retain  their  positions 
as   professors   in  our  universities  and   colleges,  and 
thus  possess  the  opportunity  to  instil  their  poisonous 
opinions  into  the  minds  of  their  students.     Protestant 
orthodox  faith  is  thus  being  corrupted  at  its  very 


I 


3S<5    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

fountain-head.  The  virus  sooner  or  later  is  sure 
to  travel  from  the  pulpit  to  the  pews;  and,  in  that 
case,  we  may  well  ask  what  is  to  become  of  the 
churches  w  the  course  of  time.  A  sort  of  semi- 
Chnstianised  rationalism  will  be  certain  to  spread 
amongst  them  then  they  will  become,  like  the 
Church  of  Laodicea,  neither  hot  nor  cold,  and  their 
final  destruction  sooner  or  later  resolves  itself  into 
a  certainty. 

In  the  present  day  and  generation,  it  would  be 
entirely  out  of  the  question  to  expect  that  the  Bible, 
hke  every  other  book,  should  not  be  subjected  to 
critical  examination,  both  as  regards  its  historical 
arrangement  and  its  literary  contents.    When  the  criti- 
cism comes  from  an  agnostic  or  other  unbelieving 
source,  we  n?c.st  always  expect  that  it  will  be  of  the 
most  aggressive  and  hostile  character  possible.    The 
atheist  who  denies  the  existence  of  God  altogether, 
or  the  agnostic  who,  like  Huxley,  holds  that  he  ha^ 
no  positive  proof  that  there  is  a  God.  and  that  there  is 
nothing  to  show  that  a  Supreme  Being  takes  any 
mterest  whatever  in  the  affairs  of  this  world,  will,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  wholly  deny  the  authority  of  the 
Bible,  and  regard  it  as  merely  a  human  book,  which 
Stands  on  no  higher  plane  than  the  production  of 

thrS.Er  f '  t"*^'"-,  ^"'  ^^*="'  °"  ^^^  °tl»er  hand, 
the  Biblical  cntic  professes  to  believe  in  a  great  First 

an^H^fiirJu *''*'*?.'*  *^^  ^°''^  *"d  ^"  that  therein  is, 
and  still  takes  a  direct  interest  in  its  moral  and  relig- 

l^^i^r*  *""^  and  government,  we  certainly  have 
a  nght  to  expect  that  the  criticism  should  be  an 
honest  one,  and  not  entered  upon  for  the  deliberate 
purpose  of  detraction  or  doing  an  injury.     I„  what 

cS!!l^I,^"S  *°  "^-^l*  *''^*^l!^  ^'^  '^^^^"  °^  *e  Higher 
Criticism  have  violated  this  rule  of  conduct  and  fair 
play  we  will  now  proceed  to  show 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Julius  Wellbausen,  formerly  profes- 
sor of  theology  at  the  University  of  Greifswald,  but 
at  present   professor  of  Semitic   Philology  at  the 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  357 

University  of  GJittingen,  is  now  the  universally  ac- 
knowledged chief  apostle  of  the  German  Higher 
Criticism  Cult,  as  it  stands  to-day,  and  after  numer- 
ous changes  in  matters  of  detail.  Contrary  to  pre- 
vious opinion,  the  late  Dr.  Abraham  Kuenen,  one  of 
the  professors  of  Leyden  University  in  Holland,  in 
his  "Religion  of  Israel "  (1885)  maintained  that  the 
Elohistic  document  represented  the  latest  element 
of  the  Pentateuch.  This  theory  was  adopted  by 
Wellhausen,  and  more  fully  worked  out  by  him  in 
his  "  History  of  Israel."  Kuenen  in  his  book  defines 
his  rationalistic  standpoint  very  bluntlv  and  very 
clearly.  After  referring  to  the  princip'al  religions 
of  the  world,  Christian  and  heathen,  he  says,  "  for 
us  the  Israelitish  is  one  of  these  religions,  nothing 
less,  but  also  nothing  more."  To  this  view  of  Judaism 
he  adds  Christianity,  and  to  the  objection,  that  the 
sacred  records  of  both  religions  claim  for  them  a 
supernatural  origin,  he  answers  "  that  the  same  plea 
holds  good  for  other  religions.  Zarathushtra  (Parsee), 
Sakya  Mooni  (Hindoo),  and  Mohammed  pass  among 
their  followers  for  envoys  of  the  Godhead ;  and  in  the 
estimation  of  the  Brahmin  the  Vedas,  and  the  laws  of 
Manon,  are  holy  divine  books.  Such  an  idea  as  that 
God  chose  out  one  nation  of  old  to  be  the  special 
depository  of  his  truth,  and  that  the  religion  they 
held  was  the  preparation  for  Christianity,  is  no  longer 
tenable  in  our  days."*  When  alluding  to  a  part  of 
Genesis,  Kuenen  declares  it  to  be  "  a  fragment  of  a 
post-Exilic  romance  of  the  life  of  Abraham."  Thus 
we  see  that  according  to  this  chief  pillar  of  the  Higher 
Criticism  Cult,  there  is  nothing  essentially  Divine  in 
Judaism  or  in  Christianity,  in  any  greater  degree  than 
it  exists  in  the  teaching  of  the  false  prophet  and  im- 
postor Mohammed.  Kuenen,  in  his  deistical  rational- 
ism, was  a  legitimate  successor  of  the  atheistical 
Spinoza,  the  founder  of  his  cult,  but  nevertheless  he 
is  constantly  quoted  as  a  great  authority  by  Robertson 

1  Religion  of  Israel,  Vol.  I.  pp.  5-6. 


'i'sl 


.1 


:1 


358    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE, 

Smith,  by  Driver,  by  Cheyne,  and  by  his  other  Eng- 
ush  contemporaries. 

u^*u  w?  .Vu'"  ***  '^^  *°'*  °^  portrait  of  himself 
which  Wellhausen  draws  for  our  information.    In  his 
Prolegomena  to  the  "  History  of  Israel  "»(i885)  he  tells 
us  that  *'  on  the  first  night  of  Isaac's  sleeping  on  the 
sacred  soil  of  Beersheba  (Genesis  xxvi.  24)  he  receives 
a  visit  from  the  Numen  (local  deity)  there  residing, 
and  in  consequence  rears  his  altar."    After  declaring 
that  a  high  antiquity  for  the  priestly  legislation  is 
bolstered   up  by  imaginary  history,    he    remarks: 
"  Thus,  so  to  speak,  it  holds  itself  up  in  the  air  by  its 
own  waistband."    Speaking  of  King  Josiah's  reforms 
he  flippantly  says,  "  Being  at  his  accession  still  too 
young,  the  eighth  year  of  his  reign  is,  as  a  tribute  to 
propriety,  selected,  instead  of  the  eighth  year  of  his 
life.    (2  Chronicles  xxxiv.  3.)    The  Chronicler's  state- 
ments have  over  and  over  again  been  shown  to  be 
incredible,  though  it  is  indeed  possible  that  occasion- 
1%*.?''*'"  Osgood  corn  may  occur  among  the  chaff. 
Stu.  his  special  points  are  but  paste  pearls  after  all." 
Wellhausen  s  irreverent  flippancy  of  language  is  occa- 
sionally replaced  by  open  profanity.     For  example, 
in  alluding  to  Saul,  he  states  that  "Jehovah,  who  as 
a  rule  does  not  change  his  mind,  was  mistaken  in 
him.      Speaking  of  the  creation  of  Eve,  he  says, 
•if *i!'  •'?*^°^**>  '^"''ds  the  woman  out  of  the  man's 
rib,  having  made  a  previous  attempt,  which  was  not 
successful,  to  provide  htm  with  company."    Alluding 
S  *  uT*'u"*""'^°1  °^  tongues  at  Babel,  he  declares 
that     Jehovah  brings  about  the  dispersion  of  the 
human  race,  by  the  unity  of  which  he  feels  himself 
threatened." »    The   narrative   of  the  origin  of  the 
Passover,  as  given  in  Exodus  xii.,  he  pronounces  to 
be  a  mere  fabrication.^    The  story  of  the  Brazen  Ser- 

•  KKn:::  t^]'  '^' '"'-  "^'  '''•  ^  31a. 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  359 

pent,  to  which  our  Saviour  alludes.  (John  Hi.  14, 15,) 
he  declares  to  be  mere  legend,  the  original  motive 
for  which  appears  in  the  Jehovist  duplicate  narrative, 
"  always  and  everywhere  covered  over  with  the  many 
coloured  robe  of  fancy."  There  is  no  part  of  the  Jewish 
ritual  which  appeals  more  touchingly  to  the  heart  of 
the  Christian  beli-ver  than  the  "  Day  of  Atonement." 
typifying  as  it  did  the  atonement  made  by  our  great 
High  Priest  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  and  so 
obtained  eternal  redemption  for  us.  (Hebrews  ix.  7.) 
Wellhausen  tells  us  that  the  Day  of  Atonement  was 
not  known  to  the  Jews  until  after  the  Exile,  and  that 
it  is  in  fact  one  of  the  creations  of  the  fabricator  of 
the  Priestly  Code. 

The  "  Encyclopaedia  Biblica,"  published  quite  re- 
cently, is  edited  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  T.  K.  Cheyne.  Oriel 
professor  of  the  interpretation  of  Holy  Scripture  at 
the  University  of  Oxford,  and  Canon  of  Rochester 
Cathedral.  He  is  the  great  high  priest  of  the  Eng- 
lish branch  of  the  Higher  Criticism  Cult,  and  sS- 
though  his  opinions  are  expressed  in  more  discreet 
and  conventional  language  than  his  German  proto- 
type uses,  he  stands,  as  regards  belief  in  the  new 
creed,  on  the  same  platform  precisely  that  Well- 
hausen occupies.  The  article  on  the  Hexateuch  in 
Volume  11.(1901)  of  the  "Encyclopaedia  Biblica," 
is  the  joint  production  of  these  two  leaders  of  the 
Higher  Criticism  Cult,  and  so  may  be  regarded  as 
the  latest  presentation  of  its  authoritative  opinion. 
Wellhausen  wrote  the  article  on  the  Pentateuch  and 
Joshua,  which  appears  in  the  "  Encyclopaedia  Britan- 
nica,"  ^  and  the  peculiar  views  there  laid  down  are  all 
reproduced  under  the  heading  of  Hexateuch  in  the 
"  Encyclopaedia  Biblica,"  with  a  few  editorial  additions 
made  by  Cheyne.  The  few  texts  which  appear  to 
indicate  that  Moses  was  not  the  author  of  the  Penta- 
teuch are  again  recited;  and  we  are  again  told  all 
about  the  evolutionary  character  of  the  doctrines  of 

»  Vol.  XVIIL  p.  SOS. 


II 


3<So    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

tiie  Higher  Criticism  Cult:  — how  they  benn  with 
Spmoia'.  bold  conjecture,  and  received  fJrm  wd 
substance  from  the  rationalistic  and  profligate  Astruc. 
The  progress  of  the  materialistic  stream  of  thought  U 
then  traced  onwards  as  it  was  freshly  illustrated  by 
the  labours  of  one  German  writer  or  another,  until 

-Crlfwul^^^  **°r  to  Its  latest  development,  the 
Graf-Wellhausen  hypothesis."  which  embodies  the 
double  Elohistic  and  Jehovistic  narrative,  the  late 
Deuteroncmic  Authorship,  and  the  Priestly  Code 
But  we  breathe  more  freely  when  we  find  that  the 
long  story  of  the  erudition,  and  learned  Biblical  re- 
search, of  all  these  great  Hebrew  scholars  and  pro- 
found theologians,  ends  in  the  admission  that  the 
whole  busmess  after  all  is  merely  a  hypothesis,  which 
the  djctiorariis  define  as  a  supposition;  a  proposi- 
tion assumed  for  the  sake  of  argument;  a  theonr  to 
be  disproved  or  proved  by  reference  to  facts.    There 
IS  some  consolation  in  the  knowledge,  that,  so  far  as 
the  theory  of  the  Higher  Criticism  faith  is  concerned, 
there  is  not  a  single  historical  fact  in  existence,  and 
never  was  m  existence,  to  sustain  it.  as  we  will  more 
fully  show  hereafter.    But  despite  the  joint  hypo- 
thetical admission  of  Wellhausen  and  Cheyne,  they 
cannot  refrain  from  indulging  in  some  very  positive 
statements  as  though  their  case  rested  upon  solid 
fact.    "  The  supposed  marks  of  historical  accuracy." 
they  state,  "  and  dependence  on  authentic  records, 
are  quite  out  of  place  in  such  a  narrative  as  the  Pen- 
tateuch, the  substance  of  which  is  not  historical  but 
legendary.    This  legendary  character  is  always  mani- 
fest, both  in  the  form  and  in  the  substance  of  the 
narrative  of  the  Yahwist  (Jehovist);  his  stories  of 
the  patriarchs  and  of  Moses  are  just  such  as  might 
have  been  gathered  from  popular  tradition."     In 
dealing  with   the  supposed  Priestly  Code  the  twin 
critics  use  the  following  explicit  language:  "Love 
and  hate,  and  all  the  passions,  angels,  miracles,  and 
theophanies,  local  and  historical  allusions,  disappear: 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  361 

the  old  narrative  ihriveU  into  a  sort  of  genealogical 
scheme, —  a  bare  scafTolding  to  support  a  pragmatic 
construction  of  the  connection  and  progress  of  the 
sacred  history.  .  .  .  Obviously  it  was  the  intention 
of  the  priestly  narrator  to  give,  by  this  treatment, 
the  historical  quintessence  of  his  materials,  freed  of 
all  superfluous  additions.  Sorely  against  its  real 
character  (i.  e.  legendary)  he  forces  it  into  a  chrono- 
logical system,  which  he  carries  through  without  a 
break  from  Adam  to  Joshua.  Whenever  he  can  he 
patches  the  story  with  things  that  have  the  air  of 
authoritative  documents  ...  so  that  it  forms  a  frame- 
work, and  at  the  same  time  a  gradual  preparation 
for  the  Mosaic  law.  With  the  spirit  of  the  legend  in 
which  the  Jehovist  still  lives,  he  has  nothing  in  com- 
mon ;  and  so  he  forces  it  into  conformity  with  a  point 
of  view  entirely  different  from  its  own." 

From  these  extracts  it  will  be  seen  that  Wellhausen 
and  Cheyne  regard  the  greater  part  of  the  Pentateuch, 
and  Genesis  especially,  as  mere  legends,  and  wholly 
unworthy  of  credit.  The  author  of  the  Priestly  Code, 
the  sole  creation  of  Higher  Criticism  imagination,  they 
picture  as  a  great  literary  knave,  who  forms  history 
out  of  legendary  materials,  on  which  to  base  the  spu- 
rious Mosaic  law  of  the  Exilic  period,  framed  in 
accordance  with  the  views  of  the  prophet  Ezekiel.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Higher  Critics  the  greater  part  of  the 
ceremonial  law  was  unknown,  and  never  enforced,  in 
Israel  until  after  the  Exilic  period,  when  it  came  into 
full  use  owing  to  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  who  were  chieflj- 
guided  in  their  work  by  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy, 
the  priestly  forged  product,  as  these  critics  state,  of  the 
reign  of  Manasseh  or  Josiah.  The  reader  will  now 
see  that  both  Wellhausen  and  Cheyne  have  no  faith 
whatever  in  the  Divine  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, either  in  whole  or  in  part.  It  is,  according  to 
them,  a  mere  human  production,  much  of  which  is 
based  on  positive  deceit  or  mere  legend.  In  assum- 
ing this  antagonistic  position,  they  necessarily  wholly 


S  ' 


362    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

ignore  the  frequent  testimony  which  Christ  presents 
as  to  the  validity  of  the  law  and  the  prophets,  to  the 
facts  of  the  Creation,  the  Deluge,  and  to  the  true  per- 
sonal existence  of  Adam,  Noah,  the  Patriarchs  and 
Moses,  who  according  to  them  are  one  and  all,  more 
or  less,  legendary  myths.     In  the  same  way,  the  nu- 
merous allusions  of  the  Epistles  and  Apocalypse  to  the 
inspiration  and  authority  of  the  Old  Testament  are 
deliberately  thrust  to  one  side  as  unworthy  of  serious 
notice.     According  to  their  own  showing,  the  extreme 
leaders  of  the  Higher  Criticism  Cult  know  a  good  deal 
more  about  the  character  of  the  Old  Testament  than 
either  Christ  or  his  apostles.     They  accordingly  thor- 
oughly ignore  the  Divine   humanity  of  the  blessed 
Redeemer  of  the  world,  and  thur.  avow  themselves  as  at 
the  best  but  mere  deists  of  the  more  pronounced  type, 
and  opposed  to  all  forms  of  orthodox  Christianity. 
That  IS  the  breaker  line  towards  which  all  the  members 
of  the  new  faith  are  travelling ;  some  slowly,  like  Rob- 
ertson  Smith  and  Driver,  some   more  rapidly,  like 
Wellhausen  and  Cheyne.     But  all  alike  will  sooner  or 
later  reach  the  breakers;  the  rock  of  agnosticism  lies 
immediately  beyond  them.     Some  years  ago  Well- 
hausen realised  whither  he  was  journeying,  and  had 
the  decency  to  resign  his  theological  chair  for  a  philo- 
logical one  in  another  university;    but  Cheyne  still 
retains  his  Oxford  professorship  of  the  interpretation 
of  Holy  Scripture,  remains  a  canon  of  Rochester  Ca- 
thedral, and  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England, 
whose  doctrines  he  has  publicly  flouted  and  deserted 
?^7f!^°"  ^'"'*^'  ^^"^  eloquently  pleading  in  his 
Old  Testament  in  the  Jewish  Church"  for  the  recog- 
nition of  German  ideas  of  Higher  Criticism,  presented 
his  side  of  the  case  with  great  moderation ;  and  brought 
out  many  facts  of  value  to  the  Biblical  student     Still 
the  orthodox  Scottish  Presbyterians  could  not  brook 
his  heterodoxy,  and  deprived  him  of  his  theological 
chair  at  Aberdeen.     Cheyne  is  much  more  extreme 
m  his  views  than  Robertson  Smith,  nevertheless  the 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  HMHER  CRITICISM.  363 

English  authorities,  la)  ant'  clerical,  j))'  .w  him  to  retain 
his  position  at  Oxforc  a  fact  whic!;  is  little  to  their 
credit  or  their  courage,  i  he  Englis'..  archbishops  and 
bishops  are  now  reaping  the  reward  of  their  cowardice 
and  neglect  of  duty,  in  the  fact  that  university  stu- 
dents whose  religious  principles  have  been  tampered 
with  in  Oxford,  Cambridge,  and  other  centres  of  higher 
education,  by  such  men  as  Driver  and  Cheyne,  abso- 
lutely decline  to  enter  the  ministry  of  the  Church. 
As  honest  and  honourable  students  they  refuse  to  as- 
cend a  pulpit  where  they  must  of  necessity  hypocrit- 
ically teach  doctrines  they  do  not  believe  in.  Owing 
to  the  same  cause,  we  find  Principal  Caven,  of  Knox 
College,  Toronto,  making  a  similar  complaint,  as  re- 
gards the  lack  of  candidates  for  the  Presbyterian 
ministry,  at  the  Pan-Presbyterian  Convention  held  in 
England  in  July,  1904. 

In  our  chapters  on  the  Creation  and  the  Deluge,  we 
pointed  out  that  the  Accadian  tablets,  giving  an  ac- 
count of  these  events,  substantially  agree,  in  their 
principal  features,  with  the  Mosaic  narrative.  These 
valuable  written  witnesses  of  the  truth  of  Biblical  his- 
tory reach  us  from  two  independent  sources.  One 
reaches  us  through  the  agency  of  Sargon  I.  and  Sen- 
nacherib; the  other  through  the  original  Accadian 
tablets,  discovered  at  the  ancient  city  of  Erech, 
founded  by  Nimrod,  (Genesis  x.  10,)  of  which  copies 
were  made  for  the  library  of  Assurbanipal.  As  the 
Sargon  period  was  at  least  2400  years  B.  c,  the  tab- 
lets which  he  deposited  at  Borsippa,  for  safe-keeping 
and  reference,  would  be  900  years  older  than  Moses 
and  the  Exodus ;  while  the  Erech  tablets  could  not 
be  less  than  i  icx)  years ;  and  as  both  alike  give  the 
double  narrative  *  that  we  find  in  Genesis,  they  flatly 

J  After  nearly  the  whole  of  this  work  had  been  written  a  new  book 
called  ••  Monument  Facts  "  by  Professor  A.  H.  Sayce,  one  of  the 
greatest  of  living;  Assyriologists,  has  been  published,  which  amply 
sustains  the  position  assumed  by  the  writer  as  regards  tablet  evi- 
dence, and  how  fully  it  contradicts  the  contention  of  the  Higher 
Criticism.     Professor  Sayce  sutes  as   follows  :    "  But  it  so  hap- 


jl 
III 


364    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

contradict  the  statement  of  the  Higher  Criticism  Cult, 
that  this  narrative  was  the  joint  product  of  Elo^ 
histic  and  Jehovistic  writers  in  the  time  of  the  Jewish 
kingdom,  hundreds  of  years  after  the  death  of  Moses 
Here  are  wntten  documents,  from  different  sources! 
hard  facts  in  direct  rebuttal  of  the  speculative  theo^ 
rising  of  the  German  and  English  rationalists  of  the 
new  creed.  When  we  come  to  deal  with  that  creed 
from  a  historical  standpoint,  other  rebutting  facts 
equally  strong  will  be  adduced. 

Some  short  time  after  VVellhausen's  "  History  of 
Israel  made  its  appearance,  a  reply  thereto  was  writ- 
ten by  an  English  divine,  the  Rev.  Dr.  W.  L.  Baxtrr 
under  the  title  of  "  Sanctuary  and  Sacrifice."  It  v/a^ 
crushing  in  its  logical  directness  and  force.  In  a  let- 
ter to  the  author,  written  shortly  after  his  book  was 
published,  Mr.  Gladstone  said :  "Unless  your  search- 
mg  enquiiy  can  be  answered,  and  your  statements 
confuted  his  (Wellhausen's)  character,  both  Htera,? 
and  theological,  is  destroyed."  ^  Baxter,  we  may  add. 
takes  all  VVellhausen's  statements  and  arguments,  se- 
rtatim  and  refutes  them  in  detail.  No  answer  to  his 
book  has  ever  been  attempted. 

Wt  will  now  place  Wellhausen  and  Cheyne  in  the 
witness  box  for  a  brief  space,  in  order  to  see  how  they 
regard  the  difficult  position  which  the  spade  of  the 
archaeologist  has  dug  for  them.     Towards  the  close  of 

pens  that  a  Babylonian  story  of  the  Flood,  which  eoes  back  in 

Chaldean  epic  of   Gilgames.     When   we  compare  this  storv  w^th 
the  account  m  Genesis,  we  find  that  it  agrees  Sot  only  with  7hes«v 

«  wll^'ttlhuJnr"'  ''"*  ^'"^  *^'  ^-''"^  YaifviSS^iot 
wi^r*  ;«■  i  ?,'  P'?*>?PPosM  an  account  of  the  Deluge  in  which  the 
Elohistlc  and  Yahvistic  elements  were  already  combined  together 
And  smce  it  was  written  some  centuries  before  the  birth  ollosel.' 
r/n«r-  '*"'^^''  "^y*  °*  accounting  for  the  fact,  if  the  n^advHn 
W^r!  ?•'  T^^^  *  composite  one.  Either  the  Babylonian  poet  had 
^.t  ^,  Tu  "**  P'^?*2'  u*"i  °u^  ?*"«*'*' «"  «'««  'he  ilohist  and  Yah- 
r.^t  .^.".i"*"'  "P'*'^  ,']>?  Babylonian  story  on  the  mutual  understand- 
1?^  J  A  *  one  should  insert  what  the  other  omitted.  There  is  no 
third  alternative.  •-«,«« 

•  Sinker's  Higher  Critidsm,  etc.,  p.  56. 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  365 

their  article  on  the  Hexateuch  they  state:  "Now, 
however,  we  are  in  a  different  position  from  that  at 
which  Kuenen  had  arrived,  'vhen  he  rewrote  his  On- 
derzoek,  and  Wellhausen  when  he  wrote  his  illumina- 
tive Prolegomena.  The  criticism  of  the  Hexateuch  is 
approaching  a  fresh  turning-point,  and  the  students  of 
to-day  need  to  be  warned  that  new  methods  will  be 
necessary  to  carry  the  discussion  of  problems  nearer 
to  definite  solutions.  A  purely  literary  criticism  has 
had  its  day,  and  Biblical  archaiology,  and  the  com- 
parative study  of  social  customs,  have  forced  us  to 
undertake  a  more  searching  examination  of  the  con- 
tents of  the  Hexateuch,  which  is  leading  to  a  compli- 
cation of  critical  problems  not  before  dreamed  of. 
.  .  .  Let  our  last  word  be  this :  Hexateuch  criticism 
is  passing  into  a  new  phase.  This  phase  is  largely 
due  to  archaeology  and  the  comparative  study  of  so- 
cial customs ;  but  in  part,  also,  to  the  further  devel- 
opment of  Hebrew  philology  and  textual  criticism. 
Let  the  student,  therefore,  devote  the  utmost  pains  to 
the  critical  study  of  Biblical  archaeology,  and  of  the 
Hebrew  texts ;  for  without  a  better  knowledge  of  what 
the  texts  really  contain,  and  of  the  circumstances  in 
which  these  texts  arise,  no  secure  step  in  advance  can 
be  taken  by  Hexateuch  criticism."  As  a  denizen  of 
the  prize  ring  would  say,  this  is  throwing  up  the  sponge 
with  a  vengeance,  and  a  plain  admission  of  utter  de- 
feat all  along  the  line.  Not  only  is  the  clear  rebutting 
evidence  furnished  by  archaeological  discovery  ad- 
mitted, but  also  an  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew 
text ;  and  Driver,  accordingly,  with  all  his  assumed 
knowledge  of  Semitic  philology,  as  well  as  other  pre- 
tentious people,  may  now  well  say,  "  Save  us  from  our 
friends." 

We  have  already  submitted,  for  the  consideration 
of  our  readers,  the  portraits  of  some  of  the  principal 
leaders  of  the  German  Higher  Criticism  Cult,  as  they 
were  painted  by  themselves.  We  are  as  yet,  however, 
only  slenderly  acquainted  with  Canon   Cheyne,  the 


m 
ij 


f        I 


366    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 
great  English  high  priest  of  that  cult,  and  all  we 

ar"Hrl?n  a^ul  ^"  ''  *'°\^"^**  *°  the  Hexateuch 
article  in  which  he  presents  himself  as  the  double  of 

VVellhausen.  While  making  his  better  acquaintance, 
rhJ.?"?.r  .5''  *°  remember  that  he  is  the  editor  in 
J^nriul  Encyclopedia  Biblica,"  and  is,  therefore, 

morally  as  well  as  legally  responsible,  not  only  fo^ 
his  own  statements,  made  therein,  but  also  for  the 
statements   made  by  its  other  writers.    The  words 
t-ncyclopaedia  Biblica,  in  this  case,  would  imply  a 
work  containing  information  in  every  department  of 
Biblical   knowledge.     But  as  regards  Cheyne's  four 
ponderous    royal    octavo  volumes,   the  information 
which  they  supply,  on  Biblical  matters,  is   all  pre- 
sented from  one; particular  standpoint,  namely,  that  of 
the  Higher  Criticism.    A  large  number  of  the  prin- 
cipal articles,  in  this  direction,  are  written  by  Cheyne 
himself,  while  those  which  are  the  work  of  other 
Nnw  tlfH-TV*^.^^"  °^  ^'^  particular  opinions. 
Ji  vi    x"'2^"9"*'*=^*=<=°''**'"e  *°  the  Greek  root 
{^riu^os)  IS  a  judge,  and  we  all  know  that  the  first 
duty  of  a  judge  is  to  deal  impartially  with  all  matters 
brought  before  him.     But  there  h  no  judicial  fairness 
about  Cheyne  — no  fair  summing-up  of  the  case  is 
laid  before  the  jury  of  his  readers.     Instead  his  charge 
IS  invariably  delivered  from  a  non-judicial  and  partisan 
standpoint,  to  wit,  that  of  the  Higher  Criticism  Cult, 
whose  opinions  he  constantly  seeks  to  enforce.    He 
admits  that  these  opinions  are  mainly  hypothetical, 
and   so  only  embody  propositions  assumed  for  the 
sake  of  argument.     He   also  admits,  as  we    have 
already  seen,  that  archaeology,  and  the  absence  of  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  Hebrew,  have  already  largely 
discredited  the  opinions  aforesaid;  and,  yet,  he  still 
persists  m  foisting  them  on  the  public,  in  all  manner 
ot  ways,  as  any  person  who  takes  the  trouble  to  ex- 
amine   his    encyclopaedia  will   very  soon  discover. 
With  wonderful  industry  and  perseverance,  he  ever- 
lastingly rings  the  changes  on  his  beloved  topic,  his 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  367 

imaginary  Yahwist,  and  Elohist,  and  priestly-code 
writers,  scarcely  ever  leave  the  stage  for  a  moment, 
and  are  manipulated  in  all  shapes  and  forms ;  and  there 
IS  a  great  abundance  of  guessings,  of  probabilities, 
and  of  speculative  theorising  always  on  hand,  while 
a  perfect  famine  exists  as  regards  faces  or  even  cir- 
cumstantial  proofs.i      When    the   Higher   Criticism 
goes  to  the  wail,  and  it  will  be  sure  to  get  there, 
sooner  or  later,  when  the  world  of  thought  recovers  its 
sober  senses,  Canon  Cheyne's  "  Encyclopzedia  Biblica  " 
will  stand  before  the  public  as  a  huge  collection  of 
exploded  fads,  destitute  of  all   intrinsic  value,  and 
a  warning  to   future   generations   of  the  folly  that 
learned  specialists  at  times  can  be  guilty  of,   when 
their  intellects  become  warped  in  wrong  directions. 
We  have  only  space  for  a  few  examples  of  the  teach- 
ings of  this  one-sided  production,  and  will  begin  with 
quotations  from  articles  written  by  Cheyne  himself. 
He  says:  "  Either  the  Hebrew  and  the  Babylonian  ac- 
counts of  the  Creation  are  independent  accounts  of 
a  primitive  Semitic  myth,  or  the  Hebrew  is  borrowed 
directly,  or  indirectly,   from  the   Babylonian.    The 
Deluge  story  is  also  based  on  a  Babylonian  myth.     It 
IS  in  reality  a  pendant  to  the  Creation  story.     The 
proper  names  of  Adam  and  Eve,  symbolise  a  theory 
of  the  Paradise  story,  as  distinctively  modern  and 
western,   (in  Jewish   history.)     For  all  that  seems 
probable  is,  that  this  story  is  based  to  some  extent 
on  lost  poetical  traditions.     The  story  of  Cain  and 
Abel  IS  an  early  Israelitish  legend,  retained  by  the 
Jehovist   author   as    having  a  profitable   tendency, 
tnoch  should  be  a  hero  of  legend,  and  would  most 

"M«?ltii'!!lP**'"*  Professor  Sayce  says  in  his  "Monument  Facts": 
No  Englishman  would  dare  to  say  what  parts  of  the  novels  of  Besant 
rt»,tl^r,  ^^"  *^l*"  ^^  °"?  °V^^  °"'"-  No  Frenchman  would  un- 
^^?tifo»  rY  r-'*'*f"<1*J*  '"  't'"''  Alwtian  stories  Erckmann  wrote 
V^^jJ^t?^.  "°'''  *•"."'  '^  ''  P°'»«'We  for  the  European 

scholar  of  to^ay  to  analyze  an  old  Hebrew  book  into  its  component 
parts,  to  lay  down  with  mathematical  accuracy  what  section  of  the 
same  verse  Mongs  to  one  writer,  what  to  a  second,  what  to  a  third, 
and  even  to  fix  the  relative  dates  of  these  hypothetical  authors  ?" 


'Ill 


if. 

if'' 


ff  - 


Hi 


H  ■:ii 


368    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

naturally  be  of  the  same  cycle  as  Noah.  We  can 
now  arrive  at  a  more  definite  conclusion  as  to  the 
name  of  this  personage  which  was  originally  not 
Noah  but  Naham.  The  clans  called  Naham^  and 
Nahamani  probably  revered  this  hero  of  legend  as 
especially  their  -4^rw  eponymos.  Since  Abraham 
may  be  a  genuine  personal  name,  there  may  be 
a  kernel  of  tradition  in  the  narratives  relating  to 
him,  Hebrew  legend  may  have  told  of  an  andent 
ftero  bearing  his  name,  and  connected  specially  with 
Hebron,  but  whose  existence  is  as  doubtful  L  that 

vL^H  w"°"'uA^''^^"*'>'  *^^  ^°'"  of  tradition 
varied  We  might  have  expected  to  hear,  but  we 
do  not  hear  that  Isaac,  like  Zoroaster,  laughed  on 
the  day  of  his  birth.  It  is  customary  to  suppose 
that  Isaac  was  once  a  tribal  name,  and  a  divine  title. 
I  tribe  paid  him  religious  homage  as  the  divine 
patron  of  Beersheba."    Alluding  to  Jacob :  "  ThisTa 

ff^^fr^"  tl  *^^  "^^^  '"  '?''^*=**  J^*'s*»  P'ety  nourished 
Itself  on  the  legends  of  the  past.    It  is  with  pure 
legend  we  have  to  deal,  and  it  is  pure  legend  which 
asserts  that  Jacob  had  eleven  sons  besidef  daughters 
born  to  him  in  Haran  who  became  the  ancestors  of 
as  many  Israehtish  tribes.    AH  this  part  of  the  legend 
is  late :  it  can  only  have  arisen  when  the  union  of  the 
tribes  had,  under  David,  become  an  accomplished  fact, 
ihe  story  of  Joseph  cannot  be  accepted  as  genuinely 
historical;  since  it  comes  to  us  in  two  forms  which  do 
not  altogether  agree,  and  neither  of  the  two  narratives 
can  be  presumed  to  be  on  the  whole  earlier  than  the 
ninth  or  eighth  century  B.  c.     It  was  the  life  of  the 
founder  of  his  people  that  the  Israelite  writer  called  E. 
( h-lohistic)  had  to  relate :  how  could  we  expect  even  a 
moderate  degree  of  what  moderns  are  pieced  to  call 
historical  impartiality  ?  "     As  regards  Moses :  "  This 
charmingly  told  story  is  of  mythic  origi, ,  and  we 
venture  to  suppose,  that  the  story  of  Moses   has 
absorbed  one  of  the  details  of  a  popular  story  either 
of  the  Creation  or  the  Deluge.    The  hero  who  was 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  369 

hX  h;.  ^       obstacles,  ought  in  poetical  fitness  to 

«?  tL  ?  J""^  *'''^"  '"  •"*"*"*=y-  •  .  The  tradition 
of  the  Exodus  as  we  now  have  it,  is  indeed  ex- 
tremely  mconsistent.  At  one  time,  it  dehneates  a 
Moses  who  must  be  an  individual :  a  another  time  it 

but  a  clan.  .  We  have  seen  how  the  infancy  of 
Moses  was  glorified:  tradition  was  equally  careful  to 

f/vJJ'-^'/r^tf  '"i*^^^^  equipment's  Uie  prophet 
of  Yahwi,  (Jehovah.)  A  prophet  according^ to  the 
primitive  notion  must  be  a  thaumaturgist-  Moses 
therefore  needed  a  wonder-working  s?aff" 
tinn  !«^^""'"^  gentleman,  no  matter  what  his  posi- 
tion  as   regards  Christian  beliefs  might  be,  would 

good-breeding,  by  giving  unuecessary  pain  to  his 
fellow-men.  or  offering  needless  offence  to  the  ? 
religious  convictions  But  here  we  have,  as  the  fore- 
going extracts  will  show,  a  Church  of  England  cler^- 
man.  a  canon  of  Rochester,  and  professor  of  Si 
interpretation  of  Holy  Scripture  at  the  ancient 
University  of  Oxford,  openly  telling  us,  by  impl  ca- 
tion  that  the  testimony  of  Christ  and  his  ap  X  as 
to  the  true  personahty  of  the  Paf  --ir^'  s  and  Moses  is 
wholly  worthless,  and  that  the  .  .       were  nothtn ' 

But  'nlT^rl  P'"^^^'  °^  °"^  ^^e-d  °'  ""Other*: 
But  not  content  with  mere  denial,   he   hastens  to 

imitate  the  indecent  agnostic  scoflings  of  Well- 
hausen  and  his  German  school,  and  thus  shows  what 
a  vulgar  humourist  even  a  clerical  heretic,  and  de- 
serter from  the  ranks  of  his  Divine  Master,  can  be- 
come, and  how  readily  he  can  degrade  himself  by 
tn°S/"f^  irreverent  jest  and  halfpenny  witticisms, 
to  bolster  up  his  side  of  a  case  which  has  not  a  single 
scrap  of  proof  to  rest  upon.  When  he  asserts  that  the 
Book  of  Genesis  and  other  parts  of  the  Pentateuch  are 
mere  legends,  well  knowing  at  the  same  time  that  not 
a  particle  of  real  evidence  is  in  existence  to  support 

24 


ill 


I! 


:i- 


rl, 


■i 

mv 

■R 

kr 

5 

III 

370    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

his  statement,  he  exhibits,  in  propria  persona,  a  moral 
obliquity  most  painful  to  contemplate.  Such  is  the 
analysis  ^.f  the  portrait  that  Canon  Cheyne  has  drawn 
of  himself. 

When  Canon  Cheyne  was  admitted  to  the  diacon- 
ate  of  the  Church  of  England,  he  was  asked  by  the 
officiating  bishop,  "Do  you  unfeignediy  believe  all 
the  Canonical  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments?" and  his  answer  was,  "I  do  believe  them." 
When  he  was  afterwards  admitted  to  priest's  orders, 
!!\iSf  '^'"f  ^^^''fch,  the  bishop  again  asked  him, 
Will  you  then  give  your  faithful  diligence  always  so 
to  minister  the  doctrines,  and  sacraments,  and  the 
discipline  0/  Christ  as  the  Lord  hath  commanded, 
and  as  this  Church  and  realm  hath  received  the  same, 
according  to  the  commandment  of  God,  so  that  you 
may  teach  the  people  committed  to  your  care  and 
charge,  vvith  all  diligence,  to  keep  and  observe  the 
same?      His  answer  was,  "  I  will  do  so  by  the  help 
of  ^osiLotA:'    The  second  article  of  the  religion  of 
the  Church  of  England  teaches  that  the  one  Christ  is 
very  God  and  very  Man,  and  the  eighth  article  en- 
dorses the  scriptural  character  of  the  Nicene  Creed, 
ttie   Athanasian   Creed,   and   the  Apostles'    Creed. 
The  Athanasian  Creed  recites :  "  For  the  right  faith 
w,  that  we  believe  and  confess  that  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  son  of  God,  is  God  and  Man.     Perfect 
God  and  perfect  man,  of  a  reasonable  soul  and  human 
flesh  subsisting."    We  need  scarcely  say  that  although 
Canon  Cheyne  still  holds  the  office  of  a  clergyman  of 
the  Church  of  England,  he  now  ignores  his  ordination 
vows,  and  no  longer  believes  in  her  doctrines.     How 
far  his  unbelief  extends  may  be  learned  from  numer- 
ous articles  in  the  "  Encyclopaedia  Biblica. "    We  shall 
have  to  content  ourselves  however  with  a  single  illus- 
tration.    The  article  on  the  Gospels  was  written  by 
Dr.  Paul  W.  Schmiedal,  professor  of  New  Testament 
exegesis  in  the  Swiss  University  of  Zurich,  at  the  re- 
quest no  doubt  of  Canon  Cheyne,  and  necessarily 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  371 

met  the  latter's  approval  before  pubJicatlon.    It  ac- 
cordingly represents  hi.-*  opinions,  precisely  in  the 

^x^^^rl^'^  **  *^°"S^  '*  '*«'■«  written  by  himself. 
We  shall  now  proceed  to  make  a  few  extracts  from 
this  article.     Independtatly  of  presenting  the  canon's 
particular  views,  touching  the  Divine  Humanity  of 
Christ,  these  extracts  will  be  useful  in  showing  how 
lar,  and  whither,  the  Higher  Criticism  doctrine  is 
carrying  its  votaries;   and  how  orthodox  churches 
should  now  bestir  themselves  to  prevent  the  spread 
of  the  dangerous  heresy  to  their  pulpits  and  their 
pews.    As  the  article  on  the  Gospels  is  a  very  elabo- 
rate and  long  one,  we  supply  for  easy  reference  the 
numbers  of  the  sections  from  which  we  quote 
u  ",?4..  (Discrediting  St  Luke.)    His  omission,  in 
Itself,  disposes  of  the  theory  that  the  differences  of 
Luke  from  Matthew  arose  from  mere  haste,  or  care- 
lessness of  observation,  like  those  with  which  we  are 
familiar  m  a  court  of  justice.    Like  a  glacier-worn 
rock,  Luke  exhibits  the  signs  of  attempts  to  smooth 
away  points  of  objection.    Not  of  course  that  he 
mvents.    But  while  adopting  old  traditions,  he  ac- 
cepts adaptations  suggest-d  in  the  course  of  new  con- 
troversy.   He  shows  a  desire  to  prove,  improve,  edify, 
reconcile,  select  —  motives  natural,  but  not  adapted 
to  elicit  the  exact  truth." 

"132.  The  chronological  framework  must  be  classed 
among  the  most  untrustworthy  elements  in  the 
Gospels.  Not  only  are  the  data  often  quite  vague- 
often  also  it  is  impossible  to  have  any  confidence, 
when  Matthew  so  frequently  says  'then,'  'on  that 
day,  or  the  like,  or  when  Mark  says  '  straightway.' 
(133)  The  case  is  no  better  with  the  order  of  the 
narratives.  (134)  The  alleged  situations  in  which  the 
recorded  utterances  of  Jesus  were  spoken  can  by  no 
means  be  implicitly  accepted.  (  135  )  Several  of  the 
reported  sayings  of  Jesus  clearly  bear  the  impress  of 
a  time  which  he  did  notliveto  see.  (137)  (Alluding 
to  Christ's  miracles.)    At  the  same  time  on  the  other 


i: 

»(; 

I' 

nn' 

ij 

1 

[(^t:^ 


•sir 


373    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

hand  some  doubt  as  to  the  accuracy  of  the  accounts 
cannot  fail  to  arise,  in  the  mind  even  of  the  stoutest 
believer  in  miracles,  when  he  observes  how  contradic- 
tory they  are.  ( Here  follows  a  lengthy  review  of  the 
contradictory  accounts  in  the  Synoptic,  or  first  three 
Gospels.)  Taken  as  a  whole  the  facts  brought  forward, 
in  the  immediately  preceding  paragraphs,  show  only 
too  clearly  with  what  lack  of  concern  for  historical 
precision  the  evangelists  write.  The  conclusion  is 
mevitable  that  even  the  one  evangelist  whose  story, 
in  any  particular  case,  involves  less  of  the  super- 
natural than  that  of  the  others  is  still  very  far  from 
being  entitled,  on  that  account,  to  claim  implicit 
acceptance  of  his  narrative." 

"  138.  With  reference  to  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus,  the  mrst  «:redible  statement  in  the  Synoptics  is 
that  of  Matthew  and  Mark,  that  the  first  appearances 
were  in  Galilee.  The  appearance  in  Jerusalem  to  the 
two  women  (Mat  xxviii.  9)  is  almost  universally 
given  up.  .  .  .  It  was  this  error  of  theirs  that  led 
Luke  to  his  st'U  more  erroneous  statement  of  the 
actual  state  of  the  facts.  Thus,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  statements  that  Christ  was  touched,  and  that  he 
ate,  are  seen  to  be  incredible.  The  statements  as  to 
the  empty  sepulchre  are  to  be  rejected.  According 
to  Jewish  belief  a  body  did  not  remain  recognisable 
for  over  three  days.  One  knew  that  the  emptiness  of 
the  sepulchre,  after  so  long  a  time,  could  prove  any- 
thing jusc  as  little,  as  could  the  production  of  a  no 
longer  identifiable  body." 

"  139.  The  foregoing  sections  may  have  some- 
times seemed  to  raise  a  doubt,  whether  any  credible 
elements  were  to  be  found  in  the  Gospels  at  all. 
AH  the  more  emphatically,  therefore,  must  stress  be 
laid  on  the  existence  of  passages  which  are  credible. 
These  are  Mark  x.  18,  (Why  callest  thou  me  good). 
Mat.  xii.  31,  (that  blasphemy  against  the  Son  of  Man 
can  be  forgiven).  Mark  iii.  21,  (that  his  relations 
held  him  to  be  beside  himself).    Mark  xiii.  32  (of 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  373 

that  day  and  that  hour  knoweth  no  one).    Mat  xxvii. 
46  (My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me). 
These  five  passages  together  with  the  four,  which 
will  be  spoken    of   in    i40,»  might   be   called  the 
foundation  pillars  for  a  truly  scientific  life  of  Jesus. 
Should  the  idea  suggest  itself  that  they  have  been 
sought  out  with  partial  intent,  as  proofs  of  the  human 
as  against  the  divine  character  of  Jesus,  the  fact  at 
all  events  cannot  be  set  aside  that  they  exist  in  the 
Bible,  and  demand  our  attention.    In  reality,  however, 
they  prove  not  only  that  in  the  person  of  Jesus  we 
have  to  do  with  a  completely  human  being,  and  that 
the  divine  is  to  be  sought  in  him  only  in  the  form  in 
which  it  is  capable  of  being  found  in  a  man ;  they 
also  prove  that  he  did  really  exist,  and  that  the 
Gospels  contain,  at  least,  some  absolutely  trustworthy 
facts  concerning  him.    If  passages  of  this  kind  were 
wholly  wanting  in  them,  it  would  be  impossible  to 
prove  to  a  sceptic,  that  any  historical  value  whatever 
was  to  be  assigned  to  the  Gospels:  he  would  be  in  a 
position  to  declare  the  picture  of  Jesus  contained  in 
them  to  be  merely  a  work  of  phantasy,  and  could 
remove  the  person  of  Jesus  from  the  field  of  history." 
"  142.  As  for  the  feeding  of  the  5000  and  the 
4000,  so  also  for  the  withering  of  the  fig-tree,  we 
still  possess  a  clue  to  the  way  in  which  the  narrative 
arose  out  of  a  parable.    The  same  explanation   is 
capable  of  being  applied  where  deeds  or  words  attrib- 
uted to  Jesus  himself  are  not  concerned.     It  is  very 
easily  conceivable  that  a  preacher,  on  the  death  of 
Jesus,  may  have  said  purely  figuratively,  that  then 
was  the  veil  of  the  temple  rent  in  twain.    So  also  if 
another  preacher  said,  using  figurative  language,  that 
at  the  death  of  Jesus  the  graves  had  opened,  or  that 
darkness  (of  sorroMr)  had  spread  over  the  earth.  (143) 
In  the  present  connection  we  need  not  do  more  than 
allude  very  briefly  to  what  by  Strauss  was  regarded 
as  almost  the  only  source  of  origin  for  such  miracu- 

1  Mark  vi,  5 :  viii.  14 ;  Matthew  xi.  s  !  Luke  vii.  23. 


ill 

:  i 


■  l! 


r 


374    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

narratives.    For  the  rS«  „J\\'*'!1P'"«  °f  »"ch 
fnultipjication  of  the  iZcfanlOX!  '*r"'''J°'  *»'« 
>ng  upon  the  water  for  Jk!   ?•?.•  "**•*'• '«'  t^e  walk- 
the  hSing  of  the  vvkhereS  ?'"!?«.  °^  ^^^^  '^'-'n.  for 
the  dumb  man.  Ti^     oA  *»*"'*•  ^^^  the  heahng  of 
to  ascertain  W  mt^i  and^tT  ^' '""''» '^"d"^^" ' 
cures  were  effected  by '£,     i  "°'*:  ^*'«*  »°«»  °f 
to  regard,  a.  historical  inlv  those  «?*."  P^^'^ihle 
even  at  the  present  day  Dhv,ii?o    ^  ^^^  *='*"  ^hich 
by  P»ychicaUethods  L^ij^'J'r  "*^  "^'^  **>  ««"ect 
mental  maladies.    It  i,  „^  r^°/,^  «?£«C'a"y  cure  of 
stand  how  the  contemporar.?s  oJ  ?f  ^"'^to  under- 
some  wonderful  deed  or  H^L     •^"'"'  ^^^"^  »««ng 

which  they  regarded  as  mTracle!^''';??^*  ^y  »"«". 
him  with  every  other  kTrlS-  ^^°Y^^  ^'^v*  credited 
out  distinguishing  II  the  n,L"""".'°"»  Power.  with- 

those  malfdies  E  Lre  ZtnlTl"^  ^°\''.  '^*^««" 
cnces,  and  those  which  are^nfn*°  Pfy^hical  influ- 
to  bear  in  mind  that  tfie  cu  °  m '*  'V''°  necessary 
only  temporary  "  ""^^  ""^^  °ft«"  have  been 

sce^wit^Sf 2,rdS^^^^    ^"^'^'^  -^  --d-s  to 
the  leaders  o{Th^HiS^^rCrS-^-''''''A\^^''^  the  aim  of 
the  New  TestamS  pred  ^i'JX^"^  "  *°  ^""edit 
have  discredited  th^OW  aSn  f  '^'^^  "'V  as  they 
a  very  similar  fasWon      Having   ".'  '*,  *°  P'*^'^"  'n 
the  miraculous  from  the  nSn  t^**'"*"'^'^  eliminated 
be  eliminated  from  the  N^^'^J"??*  ''  *""''  *'«o 
Cheyne's  bible,  was  bom  :„T"   *P"**'  according  to 

man  lived  th<;r;rs:m:rerand'r„:S:''  ''  '  ^'^^ 
another  mere  man  could  do  a  ^'^i?*^'"^  '*^<=  *hat 
There  was  nothing  m^ili'   "*^  ^'^'-  ^  «  mere  man 
h-fe.    NoangSgZ^J^fc  b'rth  or  h?s 

on  earth  peace  eooHw.iiV^  ^  *?  ^^'^ '"  the  highest, 
the  entran^ce  5?  ^the  CllZ^^  '"•^"•"  announced 
be  its  great  high  priw?  Ini      ^u^'*'"''  '^'^^  ^^s  to 
ign  priest,   and  make  satisfaction  for 


'  ,  ' 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  375 

ShVh  "t«tffi.H*n„V"^-  u^T'^''  °^  "'"«  'hort  texts, 
wnicn  testified  only  to  his  human  tv.  the  rent  of  »ii. 

Gospels  which  allJde  to  the  Divin/'naturr:  :I„t 
all  the  passages  in  the  Epistles  and  the  Apocllyle 
of  the  same  character,  have  no  practical  mcanfn? 
and  have  no  value  as  regards  the  professTng  S?an 
man  or  woman  whatever.  Here  we  have  the  finJi 
goal  of  the  Higher  Criticism.  blunUy  pUced  beforj 
sealTence"  n?T"*^.  °'  ^"^  '*'"^-      ^'  «»  »"«  logfcal 

Smir"wl.  Ol/T^^r"'  P'J^'^["K»  °f  Robertson 
smitn.  m  his  Old  Testament  in  the  Jewish  Church." 
of  the  smooth  and  plausible  case  made  out  in  L 
"Introduction  to  Biblical  Literature  "  by  Dr?ver?and 
of  the  more  open  flouting  of  the  Bible  and  Chr"s. 

Sf  /nvner,^"^'^!*'^"'''^"  school  of  ration- 
aiists     Any  person  of  ordinary  intelligence  can  see 

lfrS^-1-^'3^\  *^''  '^-^  °f  teaching  makes  an  end 
of  Christianity  altogether,  and  destroys  the  very  foun- 
dation, on  which  it  rests.  Not  one  of  thJ  nbe 
authentic  passages,  saved  from  the  wreck  of  the  New 
Testament  will  avail  us  here.    Faith  In  Holy  sS 

Im'ntv  T  l°" ^"'  r'"'^^'-     ^'  «""»*  <•«»  back  on   h^ 
notEL  ?  *""f  u-   T^'*^  °P'"'°"-    The  man  who  has 
nothing  to  rest  his  hopes  upon  but  Canon  Cheyne^ 
bible,  and  yet  believes  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins  the 
resurrection  of  the  body,  and  the  life  ever  Sing 
would  be  of  such  a  credulous  character  as  to  bel^ve 
anything  no  matter  how  unbelievable  it  might  be 
Alas  to-day  for  the  Church  of  England,  so  long  STe 
foremos    and  most  learned  champion  of  the  P^^.tes! 
tant  world  !    While  her  extreme  ritualists  are  dragging 
J^nnT'^^H^r *^  %"^  transsubstantiation.  on  thfonf 

Arianism  and  agnosticism  on  the  other.     The  Oxford 
infide hty  of  to-day  is  far  in  advance  of  tte  German 

"LhtSllt  ^7  S^r*""''""-"  "S°-     According  to  its 
!fm«lL^  -J^  ^°/P^''.  ^'^  "°*  romance   pure   and 

of  fim.*     Kr°  I  ""^^*'T  '^^^  *^^'^  environment 
of  some  public  facts,  and  a  few  isolated  passages 


ii  ; 


iftll 


376    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE, 
tute  TZthlnlX^v^"^^^  personage,  but  desti- 

me  pivine  and  the  human  nature  of  Chrisf  h..f  k„ 
local  Alexandrian  CouncU;    but  as  bis  opinions   in 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM,  m 

the  meantime  had  become  widespread,  and  had  taken 
hold  of  several  leading  bishops,  the  Emperor  Con- 
stantme  was  compelled  to  interfere  by  summoning 
the  first  General  Council  at  Nice,  in  325  a.  d.  Al- 
though  only  a  deacon,  Athanasius  was  permitted  to 
address  the  assembled  bishops,  who  numbered  over 
300,  in  behalf  of  the  orthodox  faith.  His  eloquent 
presentation  of  his  case  was  of  the  most  convincing 
character.  Anus  was  again  condemned,  and  the 
adoption  by  the  Council  of  the  Nicene  Creed,  author- 
itatively crystallised  the  doctrine  of  the  Christian 

declared  that  the  Son  was  not  only  of  like  essence 
but  of  the  same  essence  with  the  Father.     With  the 
rise  of  the  Reformation  in  the  sixteenth  century  the 
ancient  heresy  of  Arianism   presented  itself  anew, 
but  in  various  forms  of  Unitarianism.     Priestley,  it^ 
great  light,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
denied  the  inspiration  and  doctrinal  authority,  not 
S  Sf  .^A^''^   Testament  but  also  of  the  New; 
held  that  Christ  was  a  mere  man  and  not  God;  and 
that  those  who  pray  to  him,  and  pay  him  divine 
honours,  are  gu.lty  of  idolatry.     To  us,  he  said,  there 
IS  but  one  God   and  Father.     In  the  past  century, 
however,  great  changes  have  taken  place  as  regards 
Arian  opinions,  especially  in  the  American   branch 
of  Unitarianism      The  writings  of  Dr.  Channing. 
tmerson,  and  Theodore  Parker,  as  well  as  the  partial 
union   with  Congregationalism,  largely  modified  its 
views,  and  brought  it  more  closely  in  ethical  touch 
Taal  l      r^^'  °^   orthodox  churches.      In   May, 
1885 ,  >t  split  into  two  parts,  one  adopting  a  purely 
ethical  and  non-theological  basis;    and  the  other  a 
more    distinctly   Christian    platform.      Under  these 
circumstances  Unitarianism   could   scarcely  become 
the  demur  ressort  of  the  extremists  of  the  Higher 
criticism  Cult;  and  who  can  now  only  take  leeiti- 
mate  refuge  ia  the  ranks  of  a  pure   deism   or  of 
agnosticism.    According  to  the  dictionary  the  deist 


If 


:     C 

^1  i  \ 


i'll 


r  1 


378    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

is  one  who  believes  in  the  existence  of  a  God,  but 
not  m  revealed  religion.    The  word  first  made  its 
appearance  in  the  English  language  in  the  sixteenth 
century  as  distinct  from  theism,   and  when  it  was 
used  to  designate  anti-trinitarian  opinions.    In  the 
following  century,  it  came  to  be  applied  to  the  view 
that  the  light  of  nature  is  the  only  light  in  which 
man  can  know  God,  no  special  revelation  having  been 
given  to  the  human  race.     It  therefore  completely 
Ignored  both  the  Old  and   New  Testaments.    The 
celebrated  divme  and  author.  Dr.  Samuel  Clark,  in 
his  Boyle  Lectures  of  1705,  distributed  deists  into 
four  classes.    The  first  class  pretend  to  believe  in 
the  existence  of  an  eternal,  infinite,   independent, 
intelligent  being;  and,  to  avoid  the  name  of  Epicu- 
rean atheists,  teach  also  that  this  Supreme  Bcine 
made  the  world ;  though  at  the  same  time  they  agree 
with  the  Epicurean  in  this  that  they  fancy  that  God 
does  not  at  all  concern  himself  in  the  government 
of  the  world,  nor  has  any  regard  or  care  for  what 
is  done  there.    The  second  class  acknowledges  not 
only  that  God  made  aU  things,  but  that  he  sustains 
and  governs  them,  yet  deny  that  he  has  any  regard 
in  his  government  to  moral  distinctions,  these  being 
merely  the  product  of  human  will  and  law     The 
third  class  believe  in  the  being,  natural  attributes, 
providence,  and,  to  some  extent,  in  the  moral  attri- 
butes and  government  of  God,  but  deny  the  immor- 
taiiQr  of  the  soul,  and  a  future  state  of  rewards  and 
punishments.    The   fourth    class  acknowledges  the 
being,  natural,  and  moral  perfections  and  providence 
of  God,  as  also  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  a 
future  state  of  rewards  and  punishments,  but  profess 
to  believe  only  what  is  discoverable  by  the  light  of 
nature,  without    believing    any    Divine    revelation. 
The  reader  can  judge  for  himself  which  of  the  fore- 
going caps  fits  the  extreme  Higher  Critic  of  to-day 
Immediately  beyond  them  stands  agnosticism,  pure 
and  simple.  '^ 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  REV.  DR.   DRIVER'S  HIGHER  CRITICISM 
SCHOOL  AND  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 

Neither  the  teachings  of  the  rationalistic  Germa. 
school  of  Higher  Criticism,  under  the  leadership  of 
Wellhausen,  nor  that  of  its  branch  in  England,  directed 
by  Cheyne,  have  inflicted  anything  like  the  mischief 
as  regards  English-speaking  readers,  that  has  resulted 
from  the  writings  of  th.    Rev.  Samuel  RoUes  Driver, 
D.D.,  Regius  professor  of  Hebrew  in  the  University 
of  Oxford,  and  canon  of  Christ's  Church,  Oxford. 
In  his  "  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament," first  published  in  1891,  and  which  has  gone 
through  several  editions,  while  travelling  along  the 
well-defined  track,  already  provided  for  him  by  the 
German  Higher  Criticism  Cult,  and  largely  sustaining 
all  Its  particular  views,  as  regards   Old  Testament 
exegesis,  he  does  so  in  moderate  language,  and  never 
mdulges  in  the   flouts  and  jeers   which  Cheyne  so 
congenially  wallows  in.     It  is  true,  that  like  other 
Higher  Critics,  he  presents  us  with  a  mutilated  Old 
Testament,  but,  at  the  time,  undertakes  to  comfort 
us  with  the  assurance  that  even  in  its  fragmentary 
condition  it  is  still  an  insspired  volume,  and  ah  nd- 
antly  sufficient,  under  the  old  dispensation,  for    'le 
moral  and  religious  government  of  mankind.     Driver 
IS  now  engaged  in  assisting  Dr.  Hastings,  in  prepar- 
ing for  the  press,  a  new  Bible  Dictionary  of  a  more 
prudent  and  cautious  description  than  the  "  Encyclo- 
pedia Biblica,"  but  which,  however,  in  its  more  es- 
sential features,  is  of  much  the  same  general  character. 


Hi 


if 


t:><l 


I  1; 


h  ! 


380    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

l^^*-u,"*'"^*y'  ^  ''*^*=*"*  English  writer,  "  represents 
the  Bible  as  error  and  romance  mingled  with  truth- 

*"*^  *Vf  °4i^'"  *^  *''"th  mingled  with  romance  and 
t"°u  I  J^^  general  features  of  both  works  may 
be  best  illustrated  by  the  phrase  tweedle  dum  and 
tweedle  dee,  and  embody  a  distinction  without  any 
real  difference.  '' 

Owing  to  its  attractive  title,  and  the  high  reputa- 
tion of  Its  author  as  a  Hebrew  scholar.  Driver's 
Introduction    has  crept  into  the  libraries  of  many 
thousands  of  Protestant  clergymen,  of  all  denomina- 
tions.    Its  tone  of  moderation,  its  able  arguments, 
and  Its  logical  arrangement  of  evidence,  exercise  a  po- 
tent influence,  with  the  reader,  shake  his  belief  in  the 
Divine  origin  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  thus  weaken 
his  faith  in  the  authority  of  the  New.    Spiritual  dry- 
rot  lurks  beneath  the  fascination  which  its  well-turned 
periods  must  produce  in  the  minds  of  young  clergy- 
men, who  hasten  to  use  its  pages  as  the  basis  of  es.says 
designed   to  distinguish  them  at  some  college  or 
other  literary  function,  without  reflecting,  perhaps, 
how  many  others  are  also  seeking  reputation  under 
the  aegis  of  the  same  borrowed  plumes. 

The  general  plan  of  Driver's  "  Introduction  "  rests 
almost  wholly,  upon  the  superstructure  built  up  by 
the  German  school  of  Higher  Criticism.    We  have 
the  same  composite  narrative  of  the  Elohistic  and 
Jehovistic  writers,  from  the  beginning  of  Genesis  on- 
wards; the  same  subsequent  welding  together  by  a 
priestly  redactor,  at  a  later  period  of  this  narrative; 
and  the  same  desire,  although  expressed  in  a  much 
milder  and  more  guarded  form,  to  cast  discredit,  not 
only  on  the  Pentateuch,  but  also  on  other  books  of 
the  Old  Testament.    At  the  same  time,  Driver  seeks 
to  make  the  minds  of  his  readers  more  easy,  and  to 
disarm  adverse  criticism,  by  the  disavowal  of  all  hostile 
intent,  and  by  presenting  his  side  of  the  case  in  a 
very  moderate  and  courteous  manner.     The  preface, 
1  See  Anderson's  Bible  and  Modern  Criticism,  p.  14. 


DR.  DRIVER'S  HIGHER  CRITICISM.    381 

and  the  introduction  to  his  "  Introduction,"  occupy 
nearly  a  quarter  of  its  pages,  and  give  him  ample 
space  to  define  his  position.  In  his  preface  he  tells 
us  "  that  his  work  is  not  an  introduction  to  the 
theology,  or  the  history,  or  even  the  study  of  the 
Old  Testament.  It  is  an  introduction  to  the  liter- 
ature of  the  Old  Testament ;  and  what  I  conceived 
this  to  include,"  he  adds,  "  was  an  account  of  the  con- 
tents and  structure  of  the  several  books,  together 
with  such  an  indication  of  their  general  character  and 
aim,  as  I  could  find  room  for.  .  .  .  Distinctive  types 
of  style  prevail  in  different  parts  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment ;  and  it  is  hoped  that  at  least  the  more  impor- 
tant of  these  may  thus  be  brought  before  the  notice 
of  students.  ...  In  the  critical  study  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament there  is  an  important  distinction,  which  should 
be  kept  in  mind.  It  is  that  of  degree  of  probability. 
The  probability  of  a  conclusion  depends  upon  the 
nature  of  the  ground  on  which  it  re^  and  some 
conclusions  reached  by  critics  of  the  ^  Testament 
are,  for  this  reason,  more  probable  tha..  others.  The 
historical  books  of  the  Old  Testament  form  two  series : 
one  consisting  of  the  books  from  Genesis  to  Kings, 
embracing  the  period  from  the  Creation  to  therelerxft 
of  Jehoiachin  from  his  imprisonment  in  Babylo. 
(562  years  B,  c),  the  other  comprising  the  books  of 
Chronicles,  Ezra,  and  Nehemiah,  beginning  with 
Adam  and  ending  with  the  second  visit  of  Nehemiah 
to  Jerusalem  in  B.  C.  432.  Though  differing  materially 
from  each  ether,  in  scope  and  manner  of  treatment, 
these  two  series  are,  nevertheless,  both  constructed 
on  a  similar  plan;  no  entire  book,  in  either  series, 
consists  of  a  single  original  work,  but  older  writings, 
or  other  sources,  have  been  embodied  by  a  compiler 
in  such  a  manner  that  the  points  of  juncture  are  often 
plainly  discernible;  and  the  sources  are,  in  conse- 
quence, capable  of  being  separated  one  from  another." 
Our  readers  will  observe  that  in  the  foregoing  extracts 
we  have  several  positive  statements,  based  on  presumed 


?l 


382    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 
facts,  which  facts,  however,  are  wholly  unsuonnrh^^ 

tiii'^Jdtrtr  "/P'°°''  *'*»»-  direTor^cTrSs^n^ 
tial,  and  are  therefore  merely  the  echoes  of  DriW. 

own  op  nions.    The  question  does  the  text  of  Se 

a  correct  standard  of  interpretation  as  to  the  histoZ 
ca^  place  which  their  different  books  should  occupy 

reLnTu°;;^4i°    "^'^  ^'"^^"^    -<»   ^^'''' 

CoJeTr  w^ofrpt^  ^S^A^,^ 
defined  document,  distinct  from  the  r«t  o?Ae  S 

l^^i  K  "*  •^'  "  "°*  '"  ^^•^^•"  «»  regards?he  ElohStiJ 

and   Jehovistw    composite    narrative,  the    Unes    of 

demarcation  m  which  cannot  be  so  deariy  defined. 

His  conclusions,"  he  adds,  "do  not  affect  thrfor^ 

TestaUn't  "TharVhM'^  '1?^^'"*^°"  °^  ^^'^^ 
lestament.     ihat  both  the  re  gon  of  Israel  itself 

and  the  records  of  its  histoiy.  embodied li  the  (>^d 

deSee  by '?h/"c?  •  T"?  "'"'»'"<^d  in  ^ffe^^t 
aegrees  by  the  Spint  of  God,  is  manifest  Tf  .-o 
reasonaWe  therefore  to  conclud^  tSS  Sese  we/e 
derived  by  them  from  such  humai  sources  as  were 

cLls'f^rf  °>'?'^  P^^'*="^^  writerfin  some 

oJhers  fr^m  \^^^'^'  °^"  P*''"^^"^  knowledge,  in 

espSLlly  ?„  thos.    ^^"r"*^'^'  '°"^^«^  '"  others, 
especially  in  those  relating  to  a  distant  na«f  fr«J 

to   gu  de   the  individual  writer  in  the  choice  anH 
disposition  of  his  material,  and  in  the  use  of  ?t  for  the 

CO  operated,  and  have  left  traces  of  their  wnrt  «,«,! 
or  less  clearly  discernible."    As  to  the  obi^?^on  thit 
some  of  the  conclusions  of  critics  of  the  Sid  Teste 
ment  are  incompatible  with  the  authority  of  Christ" 
Driver  pleads  "that  the  basis  of  Christ    eacWng 


DR.  DRIVER'S  HIGHER  CRITICISM.    383 

was  a  religious  one,  and  that  he  accepted  as  the  basis 
of  his  teaching,  the  opinions  respecting   the   Old 
Testament  current  around  him.    There  is  no  record 
of  the  question  whether  a  particular  portion  of  the 
Old  Testament  was  written  by  Moses,  or  David,  or 
Isaiah,  having  ever  been  submitted  to  him ;  and  had 
it  been  so  submitted  we  have  no  means  of  knowing 
what  his  answer  would  have  been."    In  a  footnote 
he  adds,  that  within  the  limits  of  a  preface, "  it  would 
not  be  possible  to  consider  whether  our  Lord  as  a 
man  possessed  all  knowledge,  or  whether  a  limitation 
in  this,  as  in  other  respects,  was  involved  in  that  gra- 
cious act  of  condescension,  in  virtue  of  which  he  was 
willing  in  all  things  to  be  made  like  unto  his  brethren." 
In  this  intimation  Driver  very  clearly  submits  the 
proposition,  that  the  perfect  Godhead  of  our  Lord, 
during  his  ministration  on  earth,  was  a  matter  within 
the  scope  of  discussion,  and  that  the  "  perfect  God 
and  perfect  man,"  of  the  Athanasian  Creed,  did  not 
by  any  means  end  the  question,  nor  wholly  dispose 
of  the  old  Arian  heresy.    He  thus  re-states  the  pas- 
sage written  by  him  in  Hastings'  "  Bible  Dictionary  " 
which  says :  "  Both  Christ  and  the  apostles  or  writers 
of  the  New  Testament  held  the  current  Jewish  notions 
respecting  the  Divine  authority,  and  revelation  of  the 
Old  Testament."  ^    The  fact  that  neither  Christ  nor 
his  apostles  held  the  current  Jewish  notions  as  regards 
polygamous  marriages  plainly  contradicts  this  state- 
ment.    Christ    himself   claimed    the    fullest  Divine 
authority,  when  he  said :  "  He  that  rejecteth  me  and 
receiveth  not  my  words  hath  one  that  judgeth  him ; 
the  word  that  I  have  spoken  the  same  shall  judge  him 
in  the  last  day.    For  I  have  not  spoken  of  myself: 
but  the  Father  which  sent  me,  he  gave  me  a  com- 
mandment what  I  should  say  and  what  I   should 
speak."     (John    xii.  48-49.)     "  Believest  thou    not 
that  I  am  in  the  Father  and  the  Father  in  me?    The 
words  that  I  speak  unto  you  I  speak  not  of  myself." 

*  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  p.  6oi.    Old  Test.  Article. 


,-ft 


'U 


ir  I 


:     i 


1:1 


384    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

CJohn  xiv.  10.)  "Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away, 
but  my  words  shall  not  pass  away."  (Luk?  xxi.  330 
tMlSu"^^'  "  ^""^"L  '!"*°  *"*  '"  »'«ven  and  in  earth." 
th^  SJn'*'/''"""- u^l  "  ^"*  *•>**  y«  '"ay  know  that 
5fif.«      -u  u"**."  J"th  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins 

ttv  Ln'^i"*  *°  '^'  T>  ''l'^''  palsy).  Ariseftake  up 
thy  bed  and  go  unto  thine  house.  And  he  arose  and 
departed  to  his  house."  (Matthew  ix.  6, 7.)  These  texte 
clearly  proclaim  the  perfect  Godhead  of  the  humS 
nature  of  Chnst;  and  unless  Driver  can  prove  th^ 
they  were  never  spoken  by  the  Redeemer  of  mankind 
he  has  no  grounds  whatever  for  assuming  that  his 

«/**  "*'"''*^  ^*^  a  ™*"*^''  ^of  discussion. 
^    We  now  pass   on  from   Driver's  preface  to  his 
mlToduction,  where  we  find  him  stating:  "For  the 
opmion  often  rnet  with,  in  modern  times,  that  the 
canon  of  the  Old  Testament  was  closed  by  Ezra  or 
his  associates   there  is  no  foundation  in  antiquity 
whatever.    AH  that  can  reasonably  be  treated  as  his- 
torical is  limited  to  the  law.  .  .  .  TheageandauthoJ. 
ship  Off     books  of  the  Old  Testament  can  be  deter- 
mined (so  far  as  this  is  possible.)  only  upon  the  basis 
of  the  internal  evidence  supplied  by  the  books  them- 
selves, by  methods  such  as  those  followed  in  the 
present  volume:    no  external  evidence  worthy   of 
credit  exists."    It  will  thus  be  seen  that  Driver  rejects 
all  Jewish  tradition,  as  regards  the  origin  of  the 
several  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  Mosaic 
authorship  of  the  Pentateuch  among  the  rest     The 
quotations    we  have  made,  from    his    preface  and 
introduction,  will  enable  our  readers  to  form  a  good 
Idea  of  the  lines  on  which  his  critical  examination 
proceeds.     According    to    him    Genesis,    Exodus, 
if  Si  v':-  N""lbf ^  «"d  Joshua,  owe   their   origin 
to  Elohistic  and  Jehovistic  authors,  who  wrote  in  the 
time  of  the  Jewish  kingdoms;  and  whose  narratives 
were  afterwards  welded  together,  about  the  Exilic 
period,  by  a  priestly  redactor  or  redactors,  who  made 
large  additions,  from  legal  and  religious  standpoints, 


DR.  DRIVERS  HIGHER  CRITICISM.    38$ 

to  these  narratives.    These  additions  constitute  what 
Driver  terms  the  Priest's  Code.  The  Book  of  Deuter- 
onomy, Driver  states,  was  written  by  a  single  and 
different  author  altogether.    As  our  readers  will  at 
once  notice  Driver's   "Introduction"    rests   almost 
fwH^i?^  "P°"  ****  German  system  founded  by  the 
Wellhausen  school,  and  he  merely  applies  that  system 
to  Old  Testament  exegesis  in  his  own  way,  with  more 
elaborate  details,  and  without  that  sceptical  irreverence 
usually  exhibited  by  its  inventors.    That  fact  consti- 
tutes the  principal  difference  as  regards  his  method 
of  treatmg  the    subject   under  consideration.    The 
underlying  principle  is  essentially  the  same:  there  is 
a  mere  distinction  without  any  substantial  difference. 
As  the  student  ti-avels  through  his  "  Introduction,"  he 
will  find  that,  while  his  references  to  English  writers 
u        "'gher  Criticism  Cult  are  few  and  far  between, 
they  are  very  numerous  as  regards  German  authorities 
and  the  agnostic  Wellhausen  particularly.    But  he 
IS  much  more  guarded  than  these  are,  as  regards 
positiveness  of  statement,  and  dates  of  the  "  sources ;  " 
and   also  more  cautious  in  the  attempted  disinte- 
gration of  the  portions  known  as  the  Elohistic  and 
Jehovistic  narratives,  of  which  he  says  "  the  lines  of 
demarcation  between  them  frequentiy  cannot  be  fixed 
with  certainty."   He  is  very  positive,  however,  as  to  the 
easy  recognition  by  tiie  critic  of  the  additions  made 
by  the  priestiy  redactor,  especially  as  regards  Genesis, 
m  the  earlier  part  of  which  the  narrative  appears  to  be 
tolerably  complete,  but  elsewhere  there  are  evidentiy 
omissions."    He  dogmatically  tells  us  that  as  soon  as 
Genesis  is  studied  with  sufficient  attention,  phenomena 
disclose  themselves  which  show  incontrovertibly  that 
it  is  composed  of  distinct  documents,  or  sources.    But 
he  does  not  tell  us.  like  Wellhausen  or  Cheyne,  that 
all  Genesis  is  mere  legend.    At  the  same  time  he 
never  ventures  a  single  word  of  condemnation,  as 
regards  their  opin'ons  in  the  legend  direction ;  and 
by  this  silence  tacitly  admits  that  they  are  the  true 


If! 


IT" ; 


386    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

onet  In  the  premises.  But  whatever  may  be  his  own 
views,  Driver  evidently  shrinks  from  the  ungracious 
task  of  woundmg  the  sensibilities  of  Christian  people, 
by  consignmg  all  the  noble  characters,  and  all  the 
touchmg  incidents  of  Genesis,  so  inextricably  inter- 
woven with  the  memories  of  the  English-speaking 
race,  to  the  regions  of  myth  and  fable.  The  structure 
of  Exodus,  Leviticus,  and  Numbers,  he  states  to  be 
of  the  same  composite  character  as  Genesi».  As 
regards  Exodus,  his  analysis  of  its  details  differs 
slightly  in  some  respects  from  that  of  Wellhausen. 
Nearly  all  Uviticus,  he  adds,  is  the  work  of  the 
priestly  redactor,  as  well  as  the  greater  part  of 
Numbers.  In  Joshua,  on  the  contrary,  the  Elohistic 
and  Jehovistic  narratives  predominate. 

When  Driver  comes  to  deal  with  the  Book  of  Deuter- 
onomy, he  at  once  finds  himself  enveloped  by  a  new 
literary  atmosphere,  already  provided    for  him  by 
Wellhausen  and  his  German  confreres.  The  Elohistic 
and  Jehovistic  authors,  with  their  priestly  redactor, 
now  disappear  from  the  stage  altogether;   and  the 
curtain  rises  upon  a  new  actor  in  the  Biblical  drama. 
Even  though  it  were  clear,"  says  Driver,  "that  the 
first  four  books  of  the  Pentateuch  were  written  by 
Moses,  it  would   be  difficult  to  sustain  the  Mosaic 
authorship  of  Deuteronomy.    For  to  say  nothing  of 
me  remarkable  difference  of  style,  Deuteronomy  con- 
flicts with  the  legislation  of  Exodus,  Leviticus,  and 
Numbers  in  a  manner  that  would  not  be  credible  were 
the  legislator  in  both  one  and  the  same."    As  one 
instance  of  this  confliction,  he  says,  that "  a  large  pro- 
portion of  what  is  assigned  in  Numbers  as  tithes  to  the 
Levites,  remains  the  property  of  the  lay  Israelites  in 
Deuteronomy.    It  is  held,  then,  that  these  differences 
of  detail  between  the  laws  of  Deuteronomy,  and  those 
of  the  Priestly  Code,  are  greater  than  could  arise  were 
the  legislator  the  same  in  both;  and  that  they  can 
only  be  explained  by  the  supposition,  that  the  two 
systems  of  law  represent  the  usage  of  two  distinct 


DR.  DRIVER'S  HIGHER  CRITICISM.    387 

periods  of  the  nation's  life."  Driver  then  proceeds  to 
show  that  "  the  composition  of  Deuteronomy  belongs 
to  a  period  considerably  later  than  the  Mosaic  age, 
which  it  is  not  difficult  to  fix.  It  must  have  been 
written  prior  to  the  eighteenth  year  of  King  Josiah 
(B,  c.  621),  the  year  in  which  the  high  priest.  Hil- 
kiah,  made  his  memorable  discovery  in  the  temple  of 
the  Book  of  the  Law,  (2  Kings  xxii.  8,)  the  com- 
position of  which  must  have  taken  place  in  the  reign 
of  Manasseh."  "  The  objection  is  commonly  made," 
adds  Driver,  "that  if  this  be  the  origin  of  Deuteronomy 
that  the  book  is  a  forgery,  and  the  author  of  which 
has  sought  to  shelter  himself  under  a  great  name,  and 
to  secure,  by  a  fiction,  recognition  or  authority  for  a 
number  of  laws  devised  by  himself."  He  then  pro- 
ceeds to  argue  against  this  view  of  the  case,  which  is 
unquestionably  the  true  one.  "  But  be  that  as  it  may," 
he  adds  further  on,  "  the  laws  contained  in  Deuter- 
onomy are  far  more  ancient  than  the  time  of  the 
author  himself  (624  B.  c.) ;  and  in  dealing  with  them 
as  he  has  done ;  in  combining  them  into  a  manual  for 
the  guidance  of  the  people,  and  providing  tfiem  with 
hortatory  introductions  and  comments,  he  cannot  be 
held  to  be  guilty  of  dishonesty  or  literary  fraud. 
There  is  nothing  in  Deuteronomy  implying  an  inter- 
ested or  dishonest  motive  on  the  part  of  the  post- 
Mosaic  author,  and  this  being  so,  its  moral  and 
spiritual  greatness  remain  unimpaired;  its  inspired 
authority  is  in  no  respect  less  than  that  of  any  other 
part  of  the  Old  Testament  scriptures  which  happen 
to  be  anonymous."  Driver  closes  his  case  as  regards 
Deuteronomy  with  an  apparent  anachronism.  At  page 
95  of  his  "  Introduction  "  he  tells  us  that  the  influence 
of  Deuteronomy  upon  subsequent  books  of  the  Old 
Testament  is  very  great;  and  instances  among  these 
books  Joshua,  Judges,  and  Kings.  Now  according  to 
him  Deuteronomy  was  not  written  at  all  until  the 
reign  of  Manasseh,  and  could  not  therefore  have 
influenced  books  of  an  earlier  date.    Evidently  he 


t 


id 


p 

'file 


m    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE 
•hat  a  parallel  case  wa.  on  .riTi  "      ■-«  uj  suppose 

that  tel^l"  '""ff^'y  to  refute  the  coftentfo" 
Ma„SSM.?a;^a;^r"Se°i,S:j^^^^^ 

Utve  theonsmg  of  the  Wellhausen  sch^  of^|h« 


DR.  DRIVERS  HIGHER  CRITICISM.    389 

CrWcUm,  as  regards  the  Elohistic  and  Jehovistic  nar- 
ratives, and  the  composite  character  otherwise  of  Gen- 
esis, Exodus,  Leviticus,  Numbers,  and  Joshua.    At 
Driver's  arguments  run  precisely  on  similar  lines  the 
toblet  inscriptions  present  the  clearest  rebuttal  testi- 
mony against  them  also.    If  the  double  narrative, 
which  we  find  in  Genesis  as  to  the  Creation,  exists  in 
these  Ublets  which  are  at  least  over  nine  hundred  years 
older  than  the  Exodus,  then  that  narrative  could  not, 
most  certainly,  be  the  work  of  writers  who  lived  hun- 
dreds of  years  after  the  Exodus.     Here  we  can  place 
written  testimony  against  speculative  opinion,  the 
probability  of  which  is  at  once  destroyed.    Against 
positive  evidence  of  this  character  Driver's  arguments, 
however  ingenious  they  may  be,  have  no  value  what- 
ever; and  as  lawyers  would  tell  him  he  has  no  case. 
When  he  wrote  his  "  Introduction  "  he  must  have  been 
well  aware  that  the  evidence  of  the  tablet  inscriptions, 
which  had  then  been  fully  deciphered,  were  against 
his  contentions ;  and  it  must,  accordingly,  remain  a 
matter  of  surprise  that  he  persisted  in  presenting  these 
felse    conclusions  to  the  public.     Wellhausen   and 
Cheyne,  as  we  have  already  seen,  candidly  admit  that 
the  pickaxe  and  the  shovel  of  the  archaeologist  have 
created  difficulties  for  Higher  Criticism  which  com- 
pel a  new  point  of  departure ;  and  that  a  better  knowl- 
edge of  Hebrew  has  also  become  a  necessity  of  the 
future.    Nor  has  archaeology  said  its  last  word  by  any 
means.    Hundreds  of  insufficiently  or  wholly  unex- 
plored mounds  still  exist  in  ancient  Babylonia  and 
Assyria,  and  in  other  parts  of  the  Orient;  and,  by- 
and-by,  the  complete  text  of  the  Creation  tablets  may 
come  to  light,  and  other  inscriptions  as  well,  to  further 
discredit  the  speculative  doctrines  of  the  Higher  Crit- 
icism Cult.     Its  principal  leaders  already  discern  ♦he 
handwriting  upon  the  wall,  and  that  they  must  eh:  jr 
adapt  their  creed  to  its  new  environments,  or  disappear 
from  public  view  altogether,  in  much  the  same  way  as 
their  theorising  predecessors  in  physical  science. 


!■     >■ 


r     '1 


i 


li 


390    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

ucational  attainments,  and  learned  in  »ii*k^-j  °" 

must  have  been  thoroughly  sensible  of  2S^l:,  ^'^ 

ful  dealings  with  his  chosen  people     S  ^TorH 
would  most  probably  be  partly  Sritten  by  himse  fand 
partly  by  some  person  or  persons  who  acted  «  i," 
pnvate  secretarj^  or  secretaries.    UnTe?  those  circum' 

S  a'VL"'^  ^  "^-^  '^^'^y  ^^unfed  that  MosTs" 
Kept  a  record  of  important  events  sq  *!,»,,,     *"*** 


DR.   DRIVER'S   HIGHER  CRITICISM.    391 

towards  Sinai,  was  attacked  by  the  Atnalekite  Arabs 
of  the  desert,  and  the  assailants,  after  a  hard-fought 
battle,  were  defeated  by  Joshua,  the  Lord  commanded 
Moses  to  "  write  this  for  a  memorial  in  a  book."  (Ex- 
odus xvii.  14.)  Again,  further  on,  we  find  this  com- 
mand :  "And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  write  thou  those 
words :  for  after  the  tenor  of  these  words  I  have  made 
a  covenant  with  thee  and  with  Israel"  (Exodus  xxxiv. 
27.)  That  Moses  kept  a  journal  of  events  is  quite 
evident  from  Numbers  xxxiii.,  which  gives  a  clear 
and  full  account  of  the  various  stages  in  the  long  and 
tedious  march  of  the  Israelites  from  Egypt  to  the 
country  of  Moab.  In  *^  ^  opening  verses  of  this  chap- 
ter we  are  told  that,  "  ..  iiese  are  the  journeys  of  the 
children  of  Israel,  which  went  forth  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,  with  their  armies,  under  the  hand  of  Moses 
and  Aaron.  And  Moses  wrote  their  goings  out,  ac- 
cording to  their  journeys,  by  the  commandment  of 
the  Lord."  Here  we  have  a  distinct  statement  that  not 
only  did  Moses  write  a  history  of  the  movements  of 
the  Israelites,  from  the  period  of  Exodus  onwards, 
but  he  did  so  under  Divine  direction.  Standing,  as 
he  did,  so  constantly  in  the  presence  of  God,  his  sense 
of  reverence,  as  well  as  his  constitutional  meekness  of 
character,  would  naturally  prevent  him  from  making 
his  record  in  the  first  person,  an  example  which  was 
afterwards  followed  by  nearly  all  Old  Testament  writ- 
ers. Under  those  circumstances  every  element  of 
probability  points  to  the  fact  that  Moses  left  a  record 
behind  him,  similar,  in  its  general  character,  to  that  we 
now  find  in  the  Pentateuch.  The  tradition,  therefore, 
of  the  Jewish  rabbis  that  Moses  wrote  its  five  books, 
with  the  exception  of  the  closing  chapter  of  Deuter- 
onomy, giving  an  account  of  his  own  death,  has  a 
large  amount  of  written  evidence  behind  it,  independ- 
ently of  the  testimony  of  Christ  and  his  apostles. 
Whatever  discrepancies,  or  apparent  contradictions, 
that  may  now  exist  in  the  text  of  these  books,  arose 
from  causes  which  do  not  touch  the  original  author, 


i 


ill 


392    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

whose  history  was  solely  based  on  occurrences  which 
fell  under  h,s  own  personal  observation,  ^thwhS  he 

assured  that  there  were  no  errors  in  the  original  m2^ 
riSsto^^TL  ^:tll?^otST^  Mosef  r ^J!5S 
there  is  the  best  pSrgro^nd^fof  th.^"'  °"^^':*^'' 
that  he  also  directed  h  m  to  wSt  the  BooiJTr  "°" 

fhl  !2  •    J'       ,  ?"  °"<^  *^^"  an  intelligent  survey  of 

s^nts  ?t  {o"usZ^^'  ""   "^J^^ological  discovery  pre- 

that  AbSh/m      ^^'  '^^'""'*  ^^^'"^  t«  the  conclusion 
mat  Abraham  was  an  educated  man,  who  would  nat 

i.^  IS  of'th^Dt-^"'  and  gracious  intercourse  S 

terTt^r     No  Ho  K?T  '"*"  P^!*^P'  ^'  ••eS^^deJ  his  pos- 

Jeco^ds  behfnd  thl'*^'  Z^  ^^"""^  ^^^'^  1^^^^  similar 
recoras  behind  them.     Moses  would  necessarilv  Ha 

acquamted  with  these  documents,  and  would  u/e^he™ 

Lso  aJli^Iw.  f  hke  Melchtzedek,  King  of  Salem,  was 

the  CreSon  of  i..  •  ^'*°'^-  '^^^  *^"^  ^^^^^^^^^  °f 
and  of  ?hl  F.  V  -1  •r;e'T^TS  Pe"od  to  the  Flood, 
and  of  the  Flood  itself,  which  had  been  entirely  cor- 


]4 


f 


DR.  DRIVER'S  HIGHER  CRITICISM.    393 

rupted  among  the  Accadians,  direct  descendants  of 
Noah,  could  only  come  from  God  himself,  and  was 
most  probably  imparted  to  Moses  during  the  long 
conferences  with  him  on  Mount  Sinai.  In  short  all 
the  facts  of  the  case,  and  all  their  circumstantial  envi- 
ronments, go  to  prove  that  the  first  four  books  of  the 
Pentateuch  were  written  by  Moses. 

The  consideration  of  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy 
comes  next  in  order.  Driver,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  states  "  that  even  though  it  were  clear,  that  the 
first  four  Books  of  the  Pentateuch  were  written  by 
Moses,  it  would  be  difficult  to  sustain  the  Mosaic 
authorship  of  Deuteronomy.  For  to  say  nothing  of 
the  remarkable  difference  of  style,  Deuteronomy  con- 
flicts with  the  legislation  of  Exodus,  Leviticus,  and 
Numbers,  in  a  manner  that  would  not  be  credible 
were  the  legislator  in  both  one  and  the  same."  We 
would  reveise  the  order  of  this  statement,  and  say 
that  even  though  it  were  clear  that  the  first  four 
books  of  the  Pentaterich  were  not  written  by  Moses, 
Deuteronomy  must  certainly  have  been  written  by 
him,  or  at  his  dictation,  as  it  contains  numerous 
passages  and  statements  supporting  this  contention ; 
whereas,  on  the  other  hand,  it  does  not  supply  a  par- 
ticle of  evidence  to  show  that  it  was  written  in  the  reign 
of  Manasseh,  by  some  unknown  person  —  a  temple 
priest  we  will  say.  Nor  is  there  any  extraneous 
proof  otherwise  in  existence,  to  support  Driver's  line 
of  argument,  as  to  the  late  date  of  the  composition 
of  Deuteronomy.  His  case  rests  solely  on  the  the- 
oretical assumption,  that  his  own  great  knowledge 
of  Hebrew  enables  him  to  gather  evidence  from  the 
text  itself,  which  shows  that  the  book  was  the  work 
of  an  author  who  lived  830  years  after  the  death 
of  Moses.  Were  he  to  argue  that  the  text  was  of 
such  a  character  as  to  show  that  its  production  be- 
longed to  some  later  period  his  statement  might  have 
some  show  of  reason  about  it,  but  when  he  comes, 
like  the  rest  of  the  Higher  Criticism  Cult,  to  place 


i  i 


"  i 

Is     II  1 


f  M 


si  H 


394    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

as  another  Hebrew  scholar!^!,  .'j ""  ""*""■ 
better,  may  tell  ^  tfS  heS?„Sr.'^  "  ■*"■"•« 
possibly  Drove  the  rf«.  „?     2      . . "  ""  cannot 

Usen^aJdTh«re  i  we  hav^T"?-    "°*  ^eU- 

.r:4°e^oLtreoASs"^i£47i?^ 

fugitive  host  which  had  crosfed  the  ReH  «J^*'-^''*^^' 
hurried  flight  before  the  armv  of  Sf  ""u  S"*'  '"  '*» 
only  three^men.  m!^" Sail^l^X^''''^'^' 

pKrtiJX^^SS^^X 

h^e  iifow^arri^iir-  ?^  ^^ 

sequent^n,;!  ^;f^3^,i^Jreices^ 
a  necessar^T,  as  well  S  nSS  «  *«^?fo''e  became 
new  generation  /hou?ri?i'  P'^°<1«??"'&.  that  the 
with  fll  God\  wonderful  H.^r^'*''  (ully  acquainted 
thoroughly  warSpjI^ic^fK"^'  with  their  fathers, 
had  coffittTd  and  fuHv  •  *!'  ""!  ^^'^^  *^«  »««er 
future  cou;se!^'i:VeLL"tH^^^^^^^  f  ?  *^^'^  ^^ 

^.^ts^^rdS^rl"^ 


DR.  DRIVER'S  HIGHER  CRITICISM.    395 

Israel  was  summoned  to  appear  before  him,  in  the 
plain  over  against  the  Red  Sea,  to  hear  his  last 
at.  nonitions,  and  to  receive  his  final  blessing  be- 
fore his  death.  It  was  an  occasion  of  unparalleled 
solemnity  and  moral  grandeur,  such  as  has  never 
been  witnessed  in  any  nation  before  or  since.  The 
great  conference  musi  have  lasted  for  several  days, 
or  perhaps  weeks,  but  whether  Moses  had  prepared 
his  several  addresses  beforehand  we  have  no  means 
of  knowing.  These  addresses  would  naturally  em- 
body all  that  was  actually  necessary  that  the  new 
generation  who  heard  him  should  know.  It  would 
not  be  necessary  to  go  over  every  detail  of  the  laws 
or  instructions  which  had  been  already  promulgated, 
and  which  no  doubt  had  been  carefully  written  down. 
A  general  summary  would  alone  be  required,  as  re- 
garded the  past,  and  such  new  instructions,  touching 
the  future,  as  the  experience  of  the  previous  forty 
years  would  show  to  be  desirable.  We  are  told 
how  Baruch  wrote  down  the  words  of  Jeremiah. 
Hence  while  the  matter  as  to  its  origin  belonged 
altogether  to  the  prophet,  the  style  of  composition 
would  belong  to  Baruch,  and  would  therefore  be 
uniform  throughout;  just  as  the  style  of  a  speech 
in  a  newspaper  to-day  would  be  that  of  the  reporter, 
while  the  matter  of  the  speech  itself  belonged  to  the 
speaker.  Writing  in  the  time  of  Moses  was  a  com- 
paratively serious  matter  from  what  it  is  now;  and 
the  probability  is  that  having  thought  out  his  subject 
fully  his  addresses  were  delivered  extemporaneously, 
full  notes  made  of  their  leading  points,  (for  there 
were  no  short-hand  reporters  in  those  days)  by  a 
scribe  or  secretary,  and  these  notes  were  afterwards 
expanded  into  book  form  by  the  same  person.  The 
style,  accordingly,  of  Deuteronomy  would  be  of  the 
uniform  character  we  find  it  to-day.  Presuming  that 
a  supply  of  papyrus  paper  was  brought  out  of  Egypt, 
at  the  time  of  the  Exodus,  it  had  been  exhausted 
long  before  Deuteronomy  was  written.    In  that  event 


1   ' 

f 


■  I 


M': 


r 

i  i 

nl 

I'h^fl 

Hi 

396    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

public  meeting  which  took  place  in  the  fortirth  Zlr 
.n  the  eleventh  month,  on  the  first  d?-  of  SemS 
the  dVe^^Tn^^JJ"  '^^  wilderness.    Ha^vingThunxed 

fe^et^:vtrer^i;^Sucr.^^^^^^^ 

Ihe'SrlPT/'  ^f  '^y''  "*^^t  Mos«  "pake  ifnto 

tt^^^o"rte;rsS^:J  ir  ^^^^^ 

person,  and  precisely  as  I  news^lp^^^porte'r^^S 

common  in  the  time  K^DroBh«a^^'te"^*"*i**e5^  P»?*'  *» 


Judges  iv.  and  v.    TheT^'i,'"„ZXiT^l'T  '^=""«". ««  wnom  we  bear  in 

"se?  to  any  ext;nt  by  the'a^deK-.  ^H  '""  ^"P^""  ^  «'" 
wliolly  unknown  unt^the  seScen^.^''  Parchment  paper  waa 
it  was  first  discovered     Thrip«,^    ^  ^•' '^''*"/''*  *" '^ 
on  leather  rolls,  and  "ot ,  s?n.Vof'7n!!fe^..l°!*!L!?  ♦""-•  writinf 


on  leather  rolls, and  nota  ^V^^^n*","  *J*"^'2'  J='°**'y  *°  *•'«'•  writing 
or  parchment  h« eve"  l^n'^dTs^ol^ed'Tn  hf '''*\'^'*"« onpanyri 
Professor  Sayce  iumns  l^TtnlJi  ™!  "  •"  work,  asquote/abbve, 
facts.  At  page  2Ke  i«  tL^lh"*?y  conclusions  not  supported  bj 
took  place  >2fi  years  bT  a  blunder  ??  n*  '•"  **"*'' «"  ***«'»««  I^ 
was  atout  1488  yeara  I'  c'  ^  *°°  y*"*'   "^he  true  date 


DR.  DRIVER'S  HIGHER  CRITICISM.    397 


do  to-day,  in  his  account  of  a  public  meeting.     But 
the  record  shows  that  Moses,  like  our  modern  public 
speaker,  delivered  his  address  in  the  first  person. 
The  first  day's  address  appears  to  have  ended  with 
the  40th  verse  of  chapter  iv.;   and  Moses  is  there 
described  in  the  third  person  as  performing  certain 
official  acts ;  chapter  v.  opens  with  an  account  of  a 
fresh  day's  proceedings,  during  which  Moses  is  again 
seen  speaking  in  the  first  person,  and  continues  to  do 
so  until  the  end  of  chapter  xxviii.    Chapter  xxix. 
opens  with  a  statement  by  the  reporter,  in  which 
Moses  is  again  alluded  to  in  the  third  person,  as 
delivering  the  words  of  the  covenant  to  the  children 
of  Israel.    This  is  evidently  the  prelude,  or  preface, 
to  the  proceedings  of  a  fresh  public  meeting.    In 
verse  2,  Moses  then  proceeds  with  his  address,  in  the 
first  person,  in  his  usual  way.    This  address  continues 
to  the  close  of  chapter  xxx.    In  the  first  verse  of 
chapter  xxxi.  the  reporter  again  alludes  to  Moses 
in  the  third  person,  as  about  to  deliver  a  fresh  address, 
in  a  new  meeting.    This  address  is  also  given  in  the 
first  person.    Moses  tells  his  hearers  that  he  is  120 
years  old  that  day,  and  that  the  Lord  had  told  him 
that  he  would  not  permit  him  to  go  over  the  Jordan, 
but  that  Joshua  would  be  their  future  leader.     At 
verse  24  we  are  told  that  when  Moses  had  made  an 
end  of  writing  the  words  of  this  law  in  a  book,  (or 
having  them  written,)  until  they  were  finished,  that  he 
commanded  the  Levites,  who  bore  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  of  the  Lord,  saying,  "Take  this  book  of 
the  law,  and  put  it  in  the  side  of  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  of  the  Lord  your  God,  that  it  may  be  there 
for  a  witness  against  thee."     Chapter  xxxii.  of  Deu- 
teronomy is  chiefly  devoted  to  a  rehearsal  of  the  Song 
of  Moses ;  and  the  following  chapter  gives  an  account 
of  the  blessing  whereunto  Moses,  the  man  of  God, 
blessed  the  children  of  Israel  before  his  death.     Who 
wrote  the  account  of  his  death,  as  given  in  chapter 
xxxiv.,  is  not  known.    Most  probably  it  was  written 


i  \ 


:: 

■'i 

'i         j8 

•ft 


398    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE, 
by  the  same  scribe  who  wrote  the  other  oarts  of  A- 

by  Moses  in  person  but  th?«  '"structions  given 
book  form,  eitf er ThS*eH^?r  Srt°  P'^^^  '" 
directions.  How  long  Hook  to  h^'v"  '"""«**«*« 
say.  as  the  precise  dafe  of  the  dLh   *r  ^  '^''  '*""°' 

recrarMa  ♦;«,«  ^1    """v »  «"a  an  Its  environments  as 

by  his  learning."  and  that  S  the  ."     ^^'^'•'^'"P^'* 
Dri'v*»r     T  .•!,-  '^  *"^  *^*se  precisely  with 

him  to  place  its  author«iMo  1  ^j"*^'"®"?'"/  enables 
the  death  of  itflue  wriSr.^  ^""*^'""^'  °^  ^^^^^^  ^^^r 


DR.  DRIVER'S  HIGHER  CRITICISM.    399 


But  independently  of  what  we  learn  from  the  Book 
of  Deuteronomy  itself,  as  regards  its  authorship,  there 
are  other  facts  and  circumstances  which  disprove  the 
contention  of  Driver.  In  Joshua  i,  7,  8,  we  find  that 
God,  when  instructing  Joshua  as  to  the  course  he 
should  pursue,  charged  him  to  do  everything  accord- 
ing to  the  law  which  Moses  had  commanded.  "  This 
book  of  the  law,"  said  God,  "  shall  not  depart  out  of 
thy  mouth,  but  thou  shalt  meditate  therein  day  and 
night,  that  thou  mayest  observe  to  do  according  to 
all  that  is  written  therein :  for  then  thou  shalt  make 
thy  way  prosperous,  and  then  thou  shalt  have  good 
success."  At  chapter  viii.  34,  35,  we  are  told  that 
Joshua  read  all  the  words  of  the  law  before  all  the 
congregation  of  Israel.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  law  here  alluded  to  was  that  contained  in  the  Book 
of  Deuteronomy,  which  had  been  placed  in  the  ark 
for  safe  keeping. 

Driver  reviews  the  Book  of  Joshua  as  a  part  of  the 
Hexateuch,  and  as  a  necessary  sequel  to  the  Penta- 
teuch.  He  states  that  it  assumed  the  form  in  which 
we  have  it  by  a  series  of  stages.  First,  the  compiler 
of  J.  E.  (Jehovist  and  Elohist),  utilising  older  materi- 
als, completed  his  work.  This  was  afterwards  ampli- 
fied by  the  elements  contributed  by  D.  (his  author 
of  Deuteronomy) :  finally  the  whole  thus  formed  was 
combined  with  P.*  (Priestly  Code).  ...  J.  and  E. 
appear  to  have  cast,  into  a  literary  form,  the  traditions 
respecting  the  beginning  of  the  nation,  that  was  cur- 
rent amdng  the  people  in  the  early  centuries  of  the 
monarchy.^  On  the  relative  date  of  E.  and  J.  the 
opinions  of  critics  differ.  Dillmann,  Kittel,  and  Riehm, 
assign  the  priority  to  E.,  respectively  placing  him  900, 
850  years,  and  J.  750  years,  B.  c.  Wellhausen,  Kuenen, 
and  Stade,  on  the  other  hand,  assign  the  priority  to 
J.,  placing  him  850  to  800,  and  E.  750  years,  B.  C. 
Driver  differs  slightly  from  his  German  confreres, 
places  both  writers  in  the  early  centuries  of  the 


1  ' 


ii: , 


1  Driver's  Introduction,  p.  107. 


*  Ibid.,  p.  no. 


i      ! 


400    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

but  parts  of  it  1^;  have  exSL^nS^         '°  E"""''. 
period.'    It  will  thus  U  MM  th«?!if!!:'*'  P'-'-ExHic 
Higher  Criticism  doctor  dSlJlf  /"  ^'if  f  *•»'"«* 
matter  of  dates;    but  SevT!L   ^^'^^  "^^^  '"  *^« 
the  direct  evidence  suppS^  b^^V"  »"P/r«"''nif 
'^elf.  as  to  the  time  of  its  %.?^°**.'*  **^J*»»h"« 
chanter  vi.  25  we  read-  -A^h  f°'?P°»'tion.    In  its 
the  harlot  alive  and  S? f,*u    .  1^°***"*  »aved  Rahab 
«he  had;  Z\t 6::u^h''>''f,^^^^^^^^ 
^Jay;  because  she  hid  the  «!..     **^  *^^"  ""to  this 
»ent  to  spy  out  JerichJ."    We  „!.T"'  ^^<^^  Joshua 
the  words  "unto  this  day »m!S   i^'^t^'^  "X- that 

when  the  Book  of  Joshua  was  S.  ^'aI?^  ^'^  "me 
mvestigation  will  enable  us  to^vl"'  ^  ''"^^  ^"''ther 
the  time  whin  it  wm  acSnU^'  ^^  ^PP'-ox'^ation, 
shrewdness  and  deculJn  of^?  '^""*="-  ^^^ab's 
clearly  that  she  must  have  bLn»"^^^'  »^°^  ^eiy 
forty  years  of  age  when  I^^I^k  ".^^'nan  of  at  least 
duration  of  life  5L  thin  i*"^^^  fe"-    The  average 

theprobabilit;i^':t*jJS3°7vi^"?f'''^  y""'  '^ 
Joshua  took  command  of  the  h."k'''  "'"^^y-  When 
tjnie  the  Amalekites  were  defeat^  h ''^  *^7>'  »*  *»>« 
been  less  than  thirty-S^e  yea«  o?'.'  *=°"'<Lnot  have 
'ngly.  when  Jericho  wLcaot^HK^'''  ""^'  ^^^^rd- 
about  seventy-five.  He  £  ??.rt!?"'*  have  been 
wards,  at  the  age  of  "a    jn  5"^-fi^«years  after- 

ycars.betweenTetim"o?hisde»*J  '"?'T^  °^  fift«« 
the  Book  of  Joshua  was  wwS.  ^"^  that  of  Rahab. 

years  afterwids,  asTaS^  "k*"**  "°*  hundreds  of 
critics,  who  are  thus  Ztiv  cZ^T'  ="^  ^is  fellow 
direct  and  positivrtestiW      p ''*^^  ^^  ^^^  ^ost 

«»«  a  point  a.  ,h«>  ow^Se  c"ft 'Xr'"  '"'" 
'°^""'""""l"°to^pp.i.«y„4,3j 


DR.  DRIVERS  HIGHER  CRITICISM.    401 

A  similar  state  of  matters  exists  with  regard  to 
Chronicles,  which  also  present  internal  evidence  of 
the  period  of  their  composition.    Driver  claims  that 
Chronicles.  Ezra,  and  Nehemiah,  form  one  continuous 
aenes;  and  were  alike  written  in  a  period  not  earlier 
than  350  years  b.c.>    As  the  record  in  Chronicles 
close  610  years  B.C..  and  in  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  457 
years  B.  c,  a  long  intervening  gap  would  ensue  in  both 
cases.    There  are  no  historical  facts  or  other  evidence 
of  any  circumstantial  value  beii.nd  Driver's  statement, 
which  rests  on  nothing  but  mere  theoretical  opinion, 
and  which,  so  far  at  least  as  Chronicles  are  concerned, 
IS  contradicted  by  direct  evidence  in  the  books  them- 
selves.   In  2  Chronicles  v.  9,  10,  we  are  told  "  And 
they  drew  out  the  staves  of  the  ark,  that  the  ends  of 
the  Steves  were  seen  from  the  ark  before  the  oracle ; 
but  they  were  not  seen  without.    And  there  it  is  unto 
this  day.    There  was  nothing  in  the  ark  save  the  two 
tables  which  Moses  put  therein  at  Horeb."    These 
verses  show,  in  the  plainest  manner,  that  Solomon's 
temple  was  still  standing,  and  the  ark  still  in  exist- 
ence, when  both  books  of  Chronicles,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  their  last  chapter,  were  written,  and  that  chapter 
was  evidently  added  by  the  same  author  aster  the 
temple  had  been  destroyed  by  Nebuchadnezzar.    By 
reference  to  i  Chronicles  ix.  i,  we  are  enabled  to 
give  a  very  close  approximation  to  the  time  when 
Chronicles  were  actually  written.    There  we  are  in- 
formed "  So  all  Israel  were  reckoned  by  genealogies ; 
and  behold  they  were  written  in  the  book  of  the  kings 
of  Israel  and  Judah.  who  were  carried  away  to  Babylon 
for  their  transgression."    As  Jehoiachin  was  taken  to 
Babylon  about  fourteen  years  before  the  destruction 
of  the  temple,  Chronicles  must  have  been  written 
during  the  reign  of  Zedekiah.     As  to  who  the  author 
was  there  is   no  clue  whatever.    Some  suppose  he 
was  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  but  without  any  good 
grounds  for  the  supposition.   Jeremiah  was  surrounded 

'  Driver'a  Introduction,  p.  486, 
26 


I 


II 


p 
I. 


f         ': 


4P2    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

by  too  many  serious  difficulties  at  the  time  to  permit 
him  to  devote  his  attention  to  a  production  of  this 
description.  Chronicles  were  evidently  written  by 
some  temple  priest,  who  had  the  fullest  access  to  the 
public  records,  as  his  elaborate  tables  of  genealogies 
show.  There  can  be  little  doubt  also  that  he  was  the 
author  of  the  genealogy  in  Genesis  xxxvi.,  which  is 
evidently  a  subsequent  priestly  interpolation,  and 
breaks  the  regular  current  of  the  narrative  into  two 
parts.  Chronicles  quote  largely  from  Samuel  and 
Kings,  showing  that  they  were  a  later  production  than 
either  of  the  latter  books,  and  that  all  alike  ante-dated 
the  Exilic  period. 

The  positive  and  direct  evidence,  which  we  have 
produced,  is  amply  sufficient  to  utterly  discredit  the 
elaborate  argtiment  so  laboriously  evolved  by  Driver 
and  his  fellow  critics,  as  to  the  late  periods  of  the 
authorship  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament.    The 
more  we  calmly  and  dispassionately  consider  the  whole 
question  at  issue,  the  more  must  we  come  to  the 
definite  conclusion  that  from  the  Pentateuch  onwards 
all  the  historical  books  of  the  Old  Testament  were 
written  at  periods  not  far  distant  from  the  events  which 
they  record.    As  to  who  their  authors  were,  whether 
priests  or  laymen,  we  know  nothing  whatever.    Ther.^ 
can  be  little  doubt  however  that  they  belonged  to  the 
priestly  class,  who  worked  from  written  public  records, 
of  a  clear  and  precise  character,  and  not  from  uncer- 
tain traditions  or  indefinite  legends.    We  all  know 
how  confused  and  mythical  the  traditions  and  legends 
of  all  ancient  Pagan  nations  were,  and  that  no  reliable 
history  can  be  evolved  from  them.    But  as  regards 
Biblical  annals  the  case  is  wholly  different.    There, 
from  the  very  first,  events  progress  in  due  historical 
sequence ;   and  facts,  and  even  dates,  are  supplied 
with  that  distinctness,  which  can  leave  but  little  doubt 
of  their  accuracy.   Were  we  to  accept  the  contention  of 
the  Higher  Criticism  Cult,  as  to  the  composite  author- 
ship of  the  eariier  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  and 


DR.   DRIVER'S   HIGHER  CRITICISM.     403 

their  ultimate  welding  together  by  a  priestly  redactor 
during  say  the  Exilic  period,  another  grave  difficulty 
would  at  once  present  itself  for  consideration.  The 
modern  redactor,  or  author,  who  works  from  different 
materials  would  not  for  a  moment,  permit  his  n  u 'ative 
to  be  disfigured  by  any  contradictions  or  i.  .i.p.n- 
cies,  which  might  exist  in  the  sources  fron  wh  -"•  he 
drew  hit  information.  On  the  contrat>.lii  s.ould 
construct  a  narrative  free  from  all  real  -i  ;.:)jiiM-t, 
contradictions  or  mistakes,  and  of  ;.  iniiWnn  sLvi<« 
throughout.  Now  the  historical  books  ...  ilic  61  I 
Testament,  as  we  possess  them,  ar-  not  f*  c  t  jp^ 
textual  discrepancies,  and  their  liter  ry  -^tylo  i  .vi  t-!y 
diflferent.  They  must,  accordingly,  have  born  wiiiti.* 
by  diflTerent  persons,  and  were  never  subjected  u.  the 
revision  and  correction  of  the  same  redactor  or-  ^^^tor. 
They  lack  in  consequence  the  element  of  un  Ir  ity 
of  style. 

We  know  nothing  of  any  Hebrew  historical  docu- 
ments, which  may  have  been  in  existence  before  the 
Mosaic  period ;  but  from  that  period  onwards  there  was 
not  the  slightest  occasion  or  necessity  for  the  use  of 
oral  tradition,  or  legend  of  any  kind,  as  regards  the 
history  of  the  Jewish  people.  Public  records  for 
future  reference  were  kept  by  the  priests,  the  boundary 
lines  of  the  different  tribes  were  carefully  written  down, 
and  the  general  story  of  the  national  life  clearly  carried 
forward.  All  the  principal  historical  books  of  the  Old 
Testament  plainly  bear  upon  their  faces,  the  fact  that 
they  were  merely  epitomes  of  a  greatly  fuller  and  more 
complete  record,  carefully  written  down,  from  time  to 
time,  by  the  priests  for  future  reference.  This  would 
especially  be  the  case  after  the  establishment  of  the 
Jewish  kingdom,  when  greater  order  and  method 
would  prevail  in  public  matters.  According  to  Usher, 
whose  chronological  tables  may  always  be  safely  ac- 
cepted from  the  Exodus  onwards,  there  was  only  the 
short  interval  of  280  years  between  the  entrance  of 
Joshua  into  Canaan,  and  the  commencement  of  the 


1 


I   i 


I   i 

! ; 


■ 

■ 

f!  - 

r^ 

■iM 

gjtf' 

- 

i 

"I 

\v 


404    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

clear  historical  record  which  we  find  in  the  first  Book 
of  Samuel.    In  English  history  that  interval  would 
about  take  us  back  to  the  commencement  of  the  reign 
of  Charles  I.  m    1625.    For  centuries  before  that 
penod,  and  long  before  the  art  of  printing  was  known 
in  iiurope,  and  when  written  records  were  alone  avail- 
ab  e.  the  history  of  England  has  never  had  occasion  to 
fall  back  either  upon  legend  or  tradition,  in  order 
to  supply  any  gaps  in  the  story  it  tells.     Nor  should 
It  be  forgotten  that  in  England,  in  the  middle  ages, 
the  general  education  of  the  people  was  by  no  means 
as  widely  diffused  as  it  was  in  eastern  countries,  both 
before  and  after  the  Jews  entered  upon  their  national 
existence.     How  absurd,  accordingly,  is  the  idea  that 
notwithstanding  the  high  state  of  civilisation  which 
prevailed,  at  least  a  thousand  years  before  the  time  of 
Moses,  when  public  schools  were  the  rule  and  not  the 
exception,  and  the  art  of  writing,  even  in  the  finest 
script,  was   well  understood,   that  Hebrew    writers 
would  have  to  fall  back  on  mere  legend  or  tradition 
for  the  short  period  in  the  life  of  a  nation  of  280 
years,  lying  between  the  time  of  Joshua  and  the  birth 
of  bamuel.    Even  if  we  add  to  this  period  the  forty 
years  of  Jewish  life,  passed  in  the  wilderness  of  Sinai 
the  total  would  only  foot  up   to   320  years,  which 
would  carry  us  no  farther  back  than  the  middle  of  the 
reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  or  twenty  years  after  Shake- 
speare was  born,  and  without  whose  works  no  library 
of  the  present  day  would  be  complete.    According  to 
Usher,  from  the  Exodus  to  the  building  of  Solomon's 
2mple  the  interval  would  be  487  years,  which  would 
take  us  back  to  about  the  commencement  of  the  reign 
of  Henry  VI     When  we  come  to  soberly  consider  aU 
tiiese  facts,  all  the  idle  theoretical  speculations  of  the 
Higher  Criticism  Cult,  as  to  the  numerous  myths  and 
legends,  which  envelop  the   history  of  the  Jewish 
people   from  the  Mosaic  period  onwards,  fade  away 
like  the  mists  of  the  morning  before  the  rays  of  the 
ascending  sun.     Not  only  have  these  speculations  no 


DR.   DRIVER'S   HIGHER  CRITICISM.    405 

basis  whatever  in  fact,  but  there  is  not  even  reasonable 
probability  of  any  kind  whatever  behind  them. 

In  the  Exilic  and  post-Exilic  books  of  the  Old 
Testament  words  foreign  to  the  Hebrew  language 
occasionally  make  their  appearance,  and  this  fact  is 
used  by  Driver,  and  other  critics  of  his  school,  to 
prove  the  truth  of  their  contention,  that  these  books 
were  not  the  work  of  authors  of  that  day,  but  were 
written  many  years  afterwards.  It  takes  only  very 
slender  research  to  establish  the  weakness  of  this  line 
of  argument.  We  now  know,  as  the  results  of  modern 
archaeological  discovery,  that  the  ancient  world,  like 
the  world  of  to-day,  was  one  of  constant  philological 
progress  and  change,  although  in  a  more  limited 
form.  Then,  as  now,  the  languages  spoken  at  the 
great  centres  of  commerce  and  civilisation  always 
stood  on  the  aggressive,  and  were  constantly  invading 
and  pushing  aside  the  tongues  of  smaller  and  less 
important  peoples.  Even  the  Hebrew  form  of  speech 
went  down  among  the  rest;  and  in  the  time  of  the 
Christian  era  had  become,  like  Latin  in  our  own  day, 
a  dead  language  known  only  to  the  learned.  It  had 
been  entirely  supplanted  by  Babylonian  Aramaic,  the 
great  language  then  of  oriental  civilisation  and  com- 
merce, just  as  the  Greek  soon  afterwards  became.  The 
English  spoken,  to-day,  is  a  very  different  language 
from  that  spoken  by  our  ancestors  a  few  centuries 
ago,  and  is  so  constantly  changing  in  its  details,  and 
assimilating  words  from  other  tongues,  tiiat  every  few 
years  a  new  dictionary  becomes  a  necessity  in  every 
library  —  in  every  family  of  any  educational  preten- 
sions. The  English-speaking  reader,  of  the  present 
century,  would  require  a  glossary  to  enable  him  to 
understand  Chaucer  or  even  much  later  writers  of  his 
country ;  and  the  Shakespearian  text  of  250  years  ago, 
from  a  philological  standpoint,  is  a  very  different  one 
from  that  in  modern  editions  of  the  great  dramatist. 
For  three  centuries  before  the  reign  of  Henry  VII. 
there  was  no  standard  form  of  speech,  which  claimed 


1    vet 


li ' 


406    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

any  pre-eminence  over  the  other  numerous  dialects 
prevadmg  m  England.  Each  writer  wrote  in  the  dialect 
of  his  own  district;  and  works  written  for  southern 

;fnr?K'  ?f *!,  *"*?  *°  ^^  translated  for  men  of  the 
north.  Under  these  circumstances  no  sensible  person 
would  attempt  to  argue  that  because  modern  English 
words  had  crept  into  the  text  of  Chaucer,  its  author 
SUnli  ^^  to  a  recent  ^^^^^^  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^^^^^^ 

obsolete  terms  had  been  dropped  from  the  pages  of 

Shakespeare,  the  writer  must  have  lived  subseqSently 

to  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.     Yet  that  is  the  argument 

precisely   of  Driver  and   his   confreres,  as   Feeards 

various  books  of  the  Old  Testament.     They  make  an 

abortive  attempt  to  apply  that  argument  to  the  Book 

of  Daniel.    Because  the    Greek    names    of  a   few 

musical  instruments  are  found  there  Driver  declares 

S  V  M-  ^^^'"POj'l'on  o{  the  book  did  not  belong  to 

£u  .^    "IP^A?*^  ^"^  *°  ^  ^**^  aft"  the  conquett  of 
Palestine  by  Alexander  the  Great     Dr.  Sinker  meets 

Jhat  iftlTn"'  ""^7.  ^V^l^  ^y  '^^  contra-statement, 
Alt  J  tj^^^l.of  Daniel  a  brother  of  the  Greek  poet 
Alcaeus  held  office  at  the  court  of  Babylon,  that  the 
Assyrian  king,  Sargon  H.,  (700  years  BC.)  mentions 
i"„/?K  '"s<:"Pt'0?  the  Greeks  Qavanu)  of  Cyprus, 
and  that  over  riine  hundred  years  earlier  a  Greek 
name    is    found    in    the    Tel-el-Amarna    tablets." 

tY^^^•^''°  f^'*  *H  ^'^^^  "a'"^^  appear  in 
IhtlT^  »nscription  at  Karnak.  in  which  Meneptah. 
i^t-K  "^^  ^^^^  Exodus,  recounts  the  defeat  of  the 
northern  Mediterranean  invaders  of  Egypt.  As  the 
Tel-el-Amarna  tablets  belonged  to  the  reigns  of 
Amenophis  in  and  IV..  of  Dynasty  XVIlifL^ 
date  must  be  placed  about  1640  years  B.C.,  or  ico 
years  before  the  Exodus.    Under  these  circumstances 

rn^nfc  •  "!l,°^^^"*'?1^°^*^°  ^^^^^  '""sic*!  instru- 
ments in  the  Book  of  Daniel,  would  not  be  such  an 
unusual  occurrence,  in  that  day,  as  to  compel  the 

I  Ency.  Brit.,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  294. 
The  Bible  and  Modern  Criticism,  p.  131  n. 


i 


DR.  DRIVER'S  HIGHER  CRITICISM.    407 

conclusion  that  it  must  have  been  written  centuries 
after  the  occurrences  it  professes  to  describe.  If  the 
instruments  themselves  were  brought  from  Greece  by 
the  brother  of  Alcaeus,  or  some  other  Greek,  as  was 
very  probably  the  case,  it  may  safely  be  assumed  that 
in  Babylon  they  would  continue  to  be  known  by  their 
original  names. 

•'  The  argument  from  the  language  of  the  Book  of 
Daniel,"  says  that  eminent  jurist,  Sir  Robert  Anderson, 
"  having  thus  utterly  broken  down  —  in  truth  it  is  an 
insult  to  our  intelligence  —  we  dismiss  the  philologists 
from  the  enquiry  altogether.  The  remaining  question 
is  one  of  evidence  of  a  wholly  different  kind,  and  no 
university  professor,  however  eminent,  is  as  fit  to  deal 
with  it  as  the  trained  lawyer  or  the  experienced 
juryman.  I  press  this.  These  pages  will  be  read  by 
many,  who  are  as  competent  to  decide  the  fate  of 
Daniel  as  any  of  the  critics,  whose  dictum  about  the 
book  is  blindly  accepted  by  the  public.  And  those 
who  study  the  controversy  will  recognise  the  truth  of 
Hengstenberg's  statement,  that  the  attack  upon  the 
book  originated  in  a  prejudged  determination  to 
eliminate  the  supernatural  element  from  the  Bible. 
.  .  .  And  so  here,  men  like  Prof  rtr  Driver  accept 
the  verdict  of  the  Higher  Criticism  against  the  Book 
of  Daniel,  while  deprecating  the  '  exaggerations  of  the 
rationalists.'  The  public  prosecutor  does  not  exag- 
gerate while  presenting  his  case  to  the  court.  On 
the  contrary  he  is  careful  to  state  it  with  perfect  fair- 
ness, and  to  notice  every  point  in  favour  of  the  accused 
as  well  as  against  him.  Not  so,  however,  with  a  private 
prosecutor.  The  exaggerations  of  the  German  critics 
are  the  clearest  proof  that  the  crusade  against  Daniel 
was  the  outcome  of  prejudice  or  malice.  In  my  pub- 
lished defence  of  the  book  I  have  not  sought  to  score 
a  single  point  by  trading  on  these  exaggerations.  I 
have  taken  Professor  Driver  as  the  accredited  ex- 
ponent of  the  case  of  the  English  critics.  And  in 
meeting  his  indictment  of  Daniel  I  have  accepted 


. 


I ; 


I" 


\'' 


m 


408    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

his  own  statement  of  the  evidence.  Any  competent 
tnbuna  would  I  believe,  decide  that  the  SeptSarint 
translauon  .s  older  than  the  date  to  which  th?  cS 
SS^ .l';*'  "^'^'^^  °7«^"^'  *"^  that  the  canon  of  the 
Sillll*"^"'  "^"t  *=.^°'***  *"*^"°'- 1°  that  date.  But 
^o  n^;?.V  T  ^^  ^^^"  """^  8^™""d'  I  »»av«  shown  that 
r°  P^?  °^  *^*'""  ^^^  ?8^^"«*  the  book  will  stand  the 
test  of  cross-examination.    And,  further,  it  has  been 

?umitT' M^  *?*  '.^  great  central  prophecy  h^  b^en 
fulfilled  m  Messianic  times  with  absolute  definiteness 
and  precision.  And  this  demonstration  Professor 
tW^h^VT'^  ^^?  ""^"^  1"^y  *°  '^^^*^  't  ^"d  pass  on[ 
con^ove«y."''"^'"'  unchallenged  it  should  end  th^ 

^yhen  the  sceptical  Higher  Critics  first  framed  their 

S^H  "V  T'"?*  *^*^  ?°°^  °^  ^^'^1'  Belshazzar  wi 
declared  to  be  a  myth,  as  history  testified  that  the 

^Jllf  °^  ^t^y^T  *??  Nabonidus.  who  was  absent 
livJ3  !;  "^^'^  "^^i"  ^^'■"5  captured  it.  and  that  he 
S^fr^^Ut^''  f "  the  Persian  conquest.  Thus 
tiie   contradiction  between  profane  history  and  the 

tl^ZT  ^^/^TP'^te'  ^^'^  f''^  the  time-King  seep! 
?n«T..!  TP**?**-  ^"t  presenUy  a  new  light  broke 
upon  the  situation,  reversed  its  conditions,  and  proved 
that  Scripture  was  right,  after  all,  and  scepticism  wrong 
Decphered  tablet  inscriptions  disclose!  the  facTthS 
Belshazzar  was  the  eldest  son  and  heir  of  Nabonidus, 
tt^  Ti^^T*  '"  ^^hylon  during  his  father's  ab^ 
sence.  and  that  he  was  killed  on  the  night  in  which 
the  Persian  army  entered  the  city,     wt  now  know 

Ser  int't-'  ^""'"^  ^"*y  "^^^^  ^^"'«»  the  third 
self  mli?  ^"^?^T=  t  ""^^  ^"^y  the  second  him- 
self, mantel  v.  |6.)  Nor  can  scepticism  ever  tear 
from  the  fiook  of  Daniel  the  great  prophecy  of  the 
seventy  weeks  (490  years)  from  fhe  issL  of  thT  decree 
Snn  «fT°M '^"'^u-'^'""'^^^'"'  t°  the  public  proclama- 
th^^L  Tu^'nt^-^  P-L^Phecy  that  was  Kilfillef  to 
ine  day.     The  Christian  should  never  forge|  t^^t  |be 

1  The  Bible  and  Modern  Criticism,  p.  134. 


DR.  DRIVER'S  HIGHER  CRITICISM.    409 

Book  of  Daniel  bears  the  express  imprimatur  of  our 
Divine  Lord.  In  Matthew  xxiv.  15  he  tells  us: 
"When  ye  therefore  shall  see  the  abomination  of 
desolation,  spoken  of  by  Daniel  the  prophet,  stand  in 
the  holy  place,  (whoso  readeth,  let  him  understand)." 
Bishop  Westcott  declares  "  that  no  other  book  of  the 
Old  Testament  had  so  great  a  share  In  the  develop- 
ment of  Christianity."  It  is  Hengstenberg's  testimony, 
"  that  there  are  few  books  whose  Divine  authority  is 
so  fully  established  by  the  New  Testament,  and  in 
particular  by  the  Lord  himself,"  and  Sir  Isaac  Newton 
declared  that  its  rejection  would  undermine  the  Chris- 
tian religion.* 

While  Driver  and  his  associates  cannot  produce  a 
particle  of  proof,  that  would  have  the  slightest  weight 
in  a  court  of  law,  to  sustain  the  cardinal  points  of  their 
critical  position,  as  regards  the  Old  Testament  scrip- 
tures, they  have  certainly  established  the  fact  beyond 
all  peradventure  that  the  text  of  these  scriptures,  as 
they  have  come  down  to  us,  is  not  wholly  an  inerrant 
one.  It  is  indeed  true,  that  the  textual  discrepancies, 
and  other  errors  in  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament, 
which  have  been  brought  to  light  in  recent  years,  are 
mainly  academical,  and  not  fundamental,  in  their 
general  character,  and  in  no  way  disturb  the  even  tenor 
of  God's  providential  dealings  with  mankind.  They 
only  disturb,  here  and  there,  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree,  the  surface  of  the  Divine  stream  of  inspiration, 
which  flows  through  the  Old  Testament  scriptures; 
but,  at  the  same  time,  never  seriously  impede  its 
current  It  would  answer  no  good  purpose  to  ignore 
the  existence  of  this  state  of  things,  and  it  becomes 
accordingly  the  duty  of  the  Biblical  student  to  enquire 
into  the  character  of  discrepancies  and  other  errors  in 
the  text  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  to  ascertain  how 
far  a  new  departure  in  its  exegesis  may  have  become 
necessary.  That  issue  has  now  to  be  intelligently  and 
fairly  met.    It  may  be  said  to  be  the  only  issue  of  any 

*  The  Bible  and  Modern  Criticism,  pp.  137,  139,  t4a 


t  i' 


I    , 


:  I'. 


;J   ; 


4IO    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

on  2.r°"5"i?''  P''T^"'*  '^^'  discussion  is  conducted 
on  fair  and  honest  lines,  within  th#.  i.,«.fe  '  ':"""»"ea 

„tr<:f  Ki  ,E«0'  scripture  impirej  of  God  is  alio 
profitable  for  teaching,  for  reproof,  forconection  ^^ 
mstrachon,  which  is  in  rightecLne^!?'  Fr^ftecrSl 
cat  standpoint,  whence  we  must  now  regard  UieOhJ 
Testement  scriptures,  the  revised  versiln  expL«s 
more  c  early,  it  appears  to  us,  the  true  meaninj  rfuS 
original  than  the  authorised  version.    iMeSfhes  m 

Siil^l'tt'  ""■'""'•''  ';S'.'"^  which  "eSe'Vo 
inspired.     In  the  same  sense  discrepancies  or  othfr 
textual  errors,  or  subsequent  interpoSns  Vredact- 

beeJ  written'''  *5'  'k°°u^^  °-'  ^^'^  ^^^  TestaS;nt  ^ad 
Deen  written,  and  which  m  ght  conflict  with  the  fr.,« 

meaning  of  the  text  itself,  fould  no    m^t VerS 

carst^rSd'h  ?^  p""^'p^'  difficdty  irs 

cases  now  would  be  to  separate  the  tares  from  the 
wheat,  an  operation  which  requires  the  ereatesi 
reverence,  caution,  and  care,  andean  only  bfe£. 


m 


DR.   DRIVER'S  HIGHER  CRITICISM.    411 

ually  performed  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  While  many  eminent  Anglican  divines  have, 
from  time  to  time,  held  the  doctrine  of  the  plenary  in- 
spiration of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, to  which  the  writer  belongs,  has  never  taught 
that  doctrine  either  in  her  Articles  of  Religion  or  her 
Formularies.  In  Article  VI.  she  lays  down  that 
"  Holy  Scripture  containeth  all  things  necessary  to 
salvation :  so  that  whatever  is  not  read  therein,  nor 
may  be  proved  thereby,  is  not  to  be  required  of  any 
man  that  it  should  be  believed  as  an  article  of  the 
faith,  or  be  thought  requisite  or  necessary  to  salva- 
tion." In  Article  XX.  we  are  told :  "  Wherefore 
although  the  Church  be  a  witness  and  a  keeper  of 
Holy  Writ,  yet,  as  it  ought  not  to  decree  anything 
against  the  same,  so  besides  the  same  ought  it  not  to 
enforce  anything  to  be  believed  for  necessity  of  salva- 
tion." In  addition,  the  Church  of  England,  in  Article 
VI„  gives  us  a  schedule  of  the  names  and  number  of 
the  canonical  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  and,  with 
the  other  orthodox  Protestant  churches,  holds  all  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  to  be  also  canonical. 
Nothing  certainly  could  be  more  prudent  or  more 
catholic  than  the  teaching  of  the  Church  of  England 
as  regards  the  inspiration  and  authority  of  the  Bible. 
It  leaves  (within  due  orthodox  bounds  as  a  matter  of 
course)  the  hands  of  her  members  perfectly  free  for 
full  discussion  as  regards  the  text,  the  inspiration  in 
whole  or  in  part,  and  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures, 
Old  and  New. 

The  vast  period  of  3354  years  has  passed  away 
since  Deuteronomy,  the  final  book  of  the  Pentateuch, 
was  written.  What  sort  of  writing  material  was  used 
we  have  no  means  of  knowing.  But  it  must  have 
been  either  papyrus  paper  or  leather.*     As  the  first 

*  The  manufacture  of  papyrus  paper  in  ancient  Egypt  appears  to 
have  alwap  been  restricted  to  where  the  plant  grew,  in  luxuriant 
profusion,  in  the  shallow  and  muddy  canals.  It  was  ihade  by  cutting 
the  stalk  into  thin  strips,  laying  them  side  by  side,  then  placing 
another  layer  above  the  first  crosswise,  and  next  binding  both  layer* 


i 


t ,  •' 


{'i-K 


412    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

could  only  be  procured  from  Egypt,  and  as  aU 
Hebrew  intercourse  with  that  country  had  then 
wholly  ceased,  no  doubt  the  original  cJpy  of  Deu- 
teronomy was  written  on  leather,  duly  tanned  and 
otherwise  prepared  for  the  purpose.  Leather  was 
afterwards  used  as  the  national  writing  material  down 
to  the  close  of  the  Maccabean  periSl,  when  parch- 

.?.!?  /*'!!u    '"*°u  ^"*"'    '"*^-     L«a*er    is   to-day 
used  for  the  orthodox  synagogue  roll  of  the  law 
so  closely  does  the  modern  jlw'^still  cling  to  ^cient 

literature  of  the  Jews,  were  written  upon   rolls  of 

l^n^H^'t-^Ti*"*^  °^  ?  "°*  ^^'y  durable  character, 
and  which  did  not  retain  the  ink  very  well,  especially 
when  the  dimate  was  at  all  damp.  Unlike  thrBX^ 
loruans  and  other  oriental  nations  of  ancient  times  the 
iZlJU^T  appear  to  have  used,  to  any  extent,  the 
fnS  f  ?u^  cyl'nder  writing,  and  dways  c  ung 
instead  to  their  leather  book  rolls.  These  were  of 
st/nti^P'"'^*?''  character  that  they  had  to  be  con- 
stantly  renewed  and  re-copied.  During  all  the  expedi- 
tions and  explorations  in  Palestine,  in  §ie  past  century 

r^!  t"!l^i^  '"^P  °J  ^  *"<='^"*  ^«en  leather  roll  of 
any  kind  has  ever  been  discovered,  and  but  very  few 

^nlT\°1-  '^'^^S  *°  J^^'^**  ^"tory.    The  Moabite 

one  knd  t"h!  t?^"^,*?'.^''':^  -^^  ^•' ''  ^^e  oldest 
wa?;r  tli^f  Hezeklah  inscription  on  tbe  Siioam 
water   tunnel    comes    next.     Some    tablets    in    the 

at  Lar'uh'^KTlr  **^^1  ^""^'y  b^«"  discovered 
at  Lacaish,  but  they  related  to  events  preceding 
the  Jewish  period.  When  compared  with  the  vast 
number     of    inscriptions,    and     other    remains     of 

T^'ilfJ  »*'"'  '  **'°"8  flour  P"te  in  which  a  little  slue  waa  mi>^ 


DR.  DRIVER'S  HIGHER  CRITICISM.    4>3 


antiquity,  unearthed  in  Babylonia,  Assyria,  and 
Egypt,  within  the  past  few  decades,  the  poverty 
of  archzological  discovery  in  Palestine  has  been 
singularly  great  During  the  long  troublous  period 
of  &e  Judges  which  followed  the  death  of  Joshua  —  a 
period  of  numerous  fierce  struggles  with  surrounding 
nations,  and  much  national  affliction,  the  literary  life  of 
the  Hebrew  nation  must  have  been  a  very  feeble  and 
unsatisfactory  one,  and  few  books  would  make  their 
appearance.  The  priests  would  take  the  best  possible 
care  of  the  Book  of  the  Law,  left  them  by  Moses,  and 
have  it  renewed  and  re-copied  from  time  to  time  as 
might  be  required ;  but  only  a  few  extra  copies  even 
of  that  volume  would  be  made  until  a  more  settled 
and  uniform  government  prevailed  in  the  days  of 
Samuel.  Other  sacred  writings  would  be  treated  with 
less  consideration,  and  the  same  care  would  not  be 
exercised  in  making  copies  of  them,  and  nothing  is 
heard  of  the  formation  of  public  libraries  as  in  other 
countries.  From  the  time  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah 
onwards,  a  different  state  of  things  prevailed;  the 
nation  again  became  a  church  with  the  high  priest  at 
its  head ;  the  synagogue  system  arose ;  the  prophetic 

geriod  came  to  an  end ;  and  a  new  state  of  religious 
fe  was  ushered  into  existence  in  which,  as  at  the 
present  day,  the  written  word  became  the  sole  guide 
of  the  people.  The  scribes,  the  interpreters  and  tran- 
scribers of  the  law,  and  of  the  other  sacred  writings, 
now  became  an  important  element  in  the  state,  and 
the  greatest  care  was  exercised  in  re-copying  religious 
works  of  every  description.  Even  the  words  and 
letters  in  a  book  were  now  counted  in  order  to  pre- 
vent mistakes.  But  for  over  a  thousand  years  before 
this  period,  outside  of  whatever  personal  responsibility 
might  have  rested  with  the  priestly  class,  no  proper 
national  system  appears  to  have  existed  for  the  due 
preservation  of  the  sacred  writings.  Even  the  official 
temple  copy  of  the  law  was  lost  sight  of,  and  its  con- 
tents largely  forgotten,  until  it  was  again  discovered 


M 


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'i: 


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h  ! 


414    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE, 
bv  the  high  priest  Hilkiah  in  the  reign  of  Jo«iah 
Stand  Uh'^'k'".  f^r'*"""''  ^*  can  Lily  Vnde?: 
TJli  Tn*   ^r*'**.'^^''.'*^  "'°"  *>^  transcription  could 
creep  into  the  origmd  text.   To  correct  thcJc  marginS 

ni^^ef  LTJ^'^  made.andeven  lengthy  expIaniS,,^^ 
and  af  ttl  •  ^^  °"« /""t'y  /^dactor  after  another^ 

t^xt    anH   L*°  '''  "^"^!^  ?*  P^  of  the  original 
text,   and   be  incorporated   therewith.    The  Jewish 

Z^yZ^  i^^f^u  '"  T'"*"*'y  <=°n«rvative  one;  and 
anything  that  bore  the  authority  of  age  would  b« 
sure  to  be  preserved.  In  addition  to  these  sources 
^r.v!f[°'''  ?*""*  *°^*'*  "''^''y''  *^'«»t'  a*  regards  the 
Son  -^  Ju^^f  *°'"'  *^t  t^^Ptation  to  make  interpola- 
tions m  the  text,  with  the  view  to  its  improvement  in 
some  shape,  or  to  illustrate  some  particular  phaij 
jn  the  national  fife  We  have  an  instance  of  tK 
Genesis  xxxvi.,  where  a  whole  chapter  is  interjected 
How  l^'^^^'f  r^^^tive.  dividing  it  into  two  parts. 

Sn^w  ^^'"^i  ^'?''?  *=^'"*^  *°  ^  incorporated  into 
tne  text  may  be  plainly  seen  by  reference  to  Numbers 
xu.  3,  where  we  are  told :  "  Now  the  man  Moses  was 
very  meek,  above  all  the  men  which  were  upon  the 

tW  li^^  '*'^^-  ^"y  ••^^^^•-  '""^t  «««  »t  a  glance! 
MoU  V  '''''fr  <=0Vld  never  have  been  written  b^ 
Moses  himself,  and  that  at  first  it  only  formed  i 
marginal  note  which  eventually  crept  into  the  text 
when  a  new  copy  of  the  book  came  to  be  made! 
In  this  condition  of  things,  we  have  unquestionably 
the  true  key  to  a  very  large  part  of  the  discrepancies 
and  other  errors  m  the  text  of  the  Old  Testament. 

hS  "r  v°^  ""^IS  *^^,*'^''  f^""  'o  """^^h  adverse 
Higher  Criticism.  But  if  every  one  of  these  objec- 
tionable passages  wer-  v.,t  out  from  that  text  it  would 
still  be  a  perfect  whole  and  embody  the  full  counsel 
of  a  gracious  God  for  the  instruction  of  mankind. 
The  only  matter  for  real  wonder  in  the  case,  is  not 
that  there  should  be  errors  in  the  Old  Testament 
scriptures,  but  that  these  errors  should  be  so  few 


Hn 


DR.  DRIVERS  HIGHER  CRITICISM.    415 

and  so  unimportant.  As  they  stand  to-day  they  do 
not  affect  a  single  question  of  morals,  or  a  single 
point  of  Christian  faith  or  doctrine. 

But  independently  of  those  causes  already  pointed 
out,  other  causes  also  existed  which  hindered  the 
^ansmission  to  posterity  of  the  original  text  of  the 
Old  Testament  scriptures.  In  ancient  times  neither 
a  Hebrew  grammar  nor  even  dictionary  existed.  The 
knowledge  of  the  language  could  only  be  acquired 
accordingly,  by  mere  oral  teaching,  and  the  exegesis 
J»  difficult  passages  was  necessarily  traditional. 
Where  tradition  was  not  available  the  greatest  diffi- 
culties often  arose  as  to  the  true  interpretation  of 
the  text,  and  even  guesses  had  to  be  resorted  to  at 
times.  When  the  Septuagint  translation  was  made, 
in  the  third  century  b.  c,  the  Hebrew,  as  a  spoken 
language,  was  either  dead  or  dying,  and  the  mother 
tongue  of  the  translators  was  Greek  or  Aramaic. 
Here  stood  an  open  door  for  many  mistakes.  Even 
after  the  Christian  era  very  few  doctors  of  the  church 
knew  Hebrew,  and  had  to  depend  on  the  Septuagint 
for  their  knowledge  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  Jews, 
themselves,  had  only  a  very  slender  acquaintance 
with  their  ancient  form  of  speech,  and  what  little 
was  known  about  it  was  confined  to  the  rabbis,  who 
invariably  declined  to  teach  Hebrew  to  Christians. 
This  state  of  things  continued  down  to  1506  A.  D., 
when  Reuchlin  put  forth  the  rudiments  of  the 
Hebrew  language  in  Latin,  and  the  door  of  knowl- 
edge, so  long  kept  locked,  was  at  length  opened  to 
Gentile  scholars.' 

While  various  very  early  Greek  copies  of  the  New 
Testament  exist  at  the  present  day,  it  will  surprise  at 
least  some  of  our  readers  to  learn,  that  the  Hebrew 
Old  Testament  which  we  now  possess  is  not  much 
over  eight  hundred  years  of  age.  It  is  the  product 
of  the  Jewish  critical  school  of  the  Massoretes,  which 
existed  at  Tiberias  from  the  sixth  to  the  ninth  century, 

»  The  Old  Testament  in  the  Jewish  Church,  p.  32. 


(1:1  J 


Miaracorv  hsouition  tbt  chart 

(ANSI  ond  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


A 


i     ^tPPLIED  BVHGE    Inc 


16SJ  EotI  Main  Stmt 

Rochnttr,  ^4•w  rork        I460<      USA 

(716)  ♦a2  -  0300  -  Pt»n« 

(716)  268  -  S989  -  Fo. 


4i6    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


l!?^ 


and  which  devoted   its  attention,  during  that  long 
period,  to  collecting,  comparing  and  revising  all  the 
various  readings   of  the  Old  Testament  scriptures 
then  in  existence ;  and  forming  them  into  one  com- 
plete whole.     The  revised  text  which  thus  arose  was 
not,  however,  at  once  accepted  by  the  Jewish  Church. 
The  acceptance  at  length  came  in  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury A.  D.,  and  the  new  Hebrew  Bible  received  the  title 
of  the  "Great  Massorah."     It  constitutes  the  only 
version  of  the  Old  Testament  now  in  existence.  What 
alterations  may  have  occurred  in  the  text  from  the 
date  when  Moses  began  to  write  the  Book  of  Exodus, 
under  a  direct  command  from  God,  until  the  time 
when  the  Massoretes  put  the  final  touches  of  revi- 
sion to  all  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  canon,  we 
have  no  means  of  knowing.    No  doubt  many  old 
words,  which  had  ceased  to  have  any  meaning  for 
a  new  generation,  dropped  out  of  use;    and  new 
words,  more    suited   to   philological    progress,  took 
their  places.    That  the  Hebrew  language  changed, 
like  other  languages,  is  a  question  beyond   all  dis- 
pute,  and    our    Hebrew   scholar    of  to-day  cannot 
ascend  a  single  step  beyond  the  Massoretic  text,  and 
knows  nothing  whatever  of  the  idiom  in  which  Moses 
and  the  early  Israelites  wrote.    It  cannot  fail  to  strike 
the  reader,  that  under  all  the  various  and  conflicting 
circumstances  surrounding  ancient  Jewish   life,  the 
assumption,     by     Driver     and     his     confreres,    of 
Higher  Criticism  Cult,  that  they  have  such  a  thor- 
ough knowledge  of  all  the  moods  and  inflections 
of  the   ancient    Hebrew   language   as   makes   them 
competent  to  decide,  from  the  character  of  the  text 
itself,  at  what  particular  period  this  or  that  book  of 
the  Old  Testament  was  written,  is  a  most  presump- 
tuous one,  and  has  no  proof  behind  it.     Their  knowl- 
edge of  Hebrew  is  limited  to  a  single  copy,  only  a 
little  over  eight  hundred  years  old,  which  came  into 
existence  over  twenty-five  hundred  years  after  the 
death  of  Moses.    Both  Wellhausen  and  Cheyne  admit 


DR.  DRIVER'S   HIGHER  CRITICISM.    4,7 

♦h-=I  ♦     *        '       °  °'   *•*«  circumstances  in  which 
these  texts  arose,  must  be  acquired  before  any  secure 

olocist  will  n*.v*.r  ^:)i  .  *P*°^  °'  ^^e  archae- 

the  Olrf  ricJo        ?^  "P  *"y  *"<='*^n*  leather  copies  of 

Th^S^''  ^k"!""'  ""'  *=  «««  of  the  Ma  s"rrt« 

to  rest  upon,  and  merit  no  serious  consideration. 
»  Encyclopaedia  BibUca,  VoL  II.  p.  2057. 


:| 


if 


li  I 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

HOW  THE  HIGHER  CRITICS  WRITE  BIBLICAL 
HISTORY. 

Such  of  our  readers  as  may  happen  to  be  acquainted 
with  the  trend  of  rationalistic  literature,  during  the 
past  half-century,  can  scarcely  fail  to  have  noticed 
how  persistently  the  attacks  on  the  Bible  and  Chris- 
tianity have  been  maintained.  Agnostics  care  nothing 
about  consistency,  and  do  not  hesitate  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  most  contradictory  conditions  when  it 
suits  their  purposes  to  make  use  of  them.  When  one 
line  of  attack  fails  to  succeed  another  is  promptly 
pursued.  To-day  the  attacks  come  from  one  point 
of  the  compass,  to-morrow  they  may  come  from  the 
opposite  direction.  In  dealing  with  Biblical  history 
the  Higher  Criticism  Cult  resort  to  methods  of  a  sim- 
ilar character,  and  never  hesitate  to  be  inconsistent, 
in  order  to  give  point  to  their  argument,  whenever  it 
answers  their  purpose.  At  one  time  they  solemnly 
tell  us  that  Genesis  is  all  myth  and  tradition,  and  of 
no  historical  value  whatever.  Exodus  with  them  is 
almost  equally  untrue  and  equally  unreliable.  But 
when  they  begin  to  write  what  may  be  termed,  to 
some  extent,  Biblical  or  Hebrew  history,  we  find 
them,  of  necessity,  going  to  either  of  these  books  in 
search  of  some  chronological  starting-point  to  com- 
mence with. 

The  historical  fact,  that  from  a  period  dating 
about  fifteen  hundred  years  before  the  Christian 
era,  a  nation  existed  sometimes  called  the  Jewish 
nation,  sometimes  the  Hebrew  nation,  and  sometimes 


BIBLE  HISTORY  BY  HIGHER  CRITICS.    4,9 

prove  that  he  has  genuine  history  to  work  from^nS 
not  mere  myth  or  fahl*.-         "{5  ^"  ^orK  irom  and 

AJrihTm     wh'  'P^^  ^^"^  °"«  common  anStor 
JrnZ^;  *?    u-        "'^^^''  Criticism   Cult  decline  to 

mmm 

tt  m  ft.  Encyclopadia  Brltanni/aT  XSn/ ,°i 
*  Vol.  xiir.  p.  396. 


S    'I. 

<  I  1 


; 


M 

r. 


420    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

that  epitome  Wellhausen,  although  denouncing  every- 
thing in  Genesis  as  mere  legend,  is  forced  by  neces- 
sity, in  the  absence  of  all  other  material,  to  make  that 
book  the  starting-point  for  his  history.     He  oegins 
by  telling  us,  that "  according  to  the  Book  of  Genesis 
Israel  was  the  brother  of  Edom,  and  the  cousin  of 
Moab  and  Ammon.     These  four  petty  peoples,  which 
may  be  classed  together  as  the  Hebrew  group,  must 
at  one  time  have  formed  some  sort  of  a  unity,  and 
have  passed  through  a  common  history,  which  re- 
sulted in  thei'  settlement  in  Southeastern  Palestine. 
The  Israelites,  or  rather  that  section  of  the  Hebrew 
group  which  afterwards  developed  into  Israel,  appear 
at  first  to  hav^  been  the  immediate  neighbours  of 
Edom,  and  to  have  extended  westwards  towards  the 
border  of  Egypt.  ...  To  the  Canaanites,  whose  lan- 
guage they  had  adopted,  their  relation  was  that  of 
foreign    conquerors   and    lords  to   a  subject    race. 
Some  fifteen  centuries  before  our  era,  a  section  of 
the  Hebrew  group  left  its  ancient  seat  in  the  extreme 
south  of  Palestine,  to  occupy  the  not  distant  pasture 
lands  of  Egypt  (Goshen),  where  they  carried  on  their 
old  calling,  that  of  shepherds  and  goat-herds.    Al- 
though settled  within  the  territory  of  the  Pharaohs, 
and  recognising  their  authority,  they  continued  to 
retain  all  their  old  characteristics, —  their  language, 
their  patriarchal  institutions,  their  nomad  habits   of 
life.     But  in  course  of  time  these  foreign  guests  were 
subjected  to  changed  treatment.     Forced  labour  was 
exacted  from  them,  for  the  construction  of  new  public 
works  in   Goshen.     They  had   no  remedy  at  hand, 
and  had  to  submit  in  despair.     Moses  presently  ap- 
pears upon  the  scene,  and  reminding  his  oppressed 
brethren  of  the  God  of  their  fathers,  he  taught  them 
to  regard  self-assertion  against  the  Egyptians  as  an 
article  of  religion,  and  they  accordingly  determined 
to  seek  refuge  from  oppression  in   the  wilderness, 
which  was  the  dwelling-place  of  their  kindred,  and 
the  seat  of  their  God."    Wellhausen  next  proceeds  to 


BIBLE  HISTORY  BY  HIGHER  CRITICS     421 
the  RpH  q»,    "  ""/ne  snore  of  the  northern  arm  of 

were  annihila  ed     Afte^aS ,!?!;—         1"™"' 
but  it  was  quitrsufficirnt  for  the  i^^^^^^^ 

out.  is  not  histofS  y  Zbable  "*''?„**''^r"*  ^^^  ^'"^ 
adHerl  "  »K,*       """y  prooaoie.      In  a  foot-note  it  is 

and  of  the  temporary  settlement  It  Kadesh  Anv 
Bibhcal  student  cannot  fail  to  see  ltT^!^!t  .uK 
It  is  not  honest   history  by  any  Seans  &  .  '  '^*' 

2'£rS- # F§is?» 


a; 

J 

■   i- 
'.I. 

-i 


fi 


m 


il 


i 


1: 


1   '!') 


II 


i. 


!;l 


'"  ™e  supremacy  of  the  bible 

^^J^!^%  ^-'^y  Which  «.e  .„.,  „ 

nothing  more.    Not  undl  cf ,  IL    '^r"  P*^'''^^^'  but 
or  970  years  B.  c.rdoesE'o^?"  f^'' »^^  Exodus, 
again  with  the  IsMehtes  a^d^th.n'pu'"''  '".  ^^^  W 
makes  his  appearance  upon  the  ».   ^^^"°^  ^^'^^ak 
supreme  authority  over  th.  ^-     ->     '  "^^^^^'^hes  his 
Israel,  as  well  as  ove?  the  t^Hhn^^-'"'  °^  ^^^^^  and 
plunders  Jerusalem  anSrts^l^Z?"^?^""*""  J  ^^^ 
treasure  collected  by  David  iTf^  °^  *"   *^^  ^ast 
cessful  campaign  is  recorln "    ^°'°'"°"-     His  suc- 
tempIeofKarnlk/wh7chthrnJ     '"^"'Pt'ons  at  the 
h'stoiy.  but  for  the  time  tZ  '°T'  ''$*  °"  J«^'«h 

scr.ptionsteIlusnothinTote«ri=^-     ^^P«^"  '«- 
centuries  leading  back  fo  /h    ^'^^-?'^*°''>'  during  the 

allude  thereto  from  th^  \ten°A^  .^^^  ^olhey 

Assyrian  inscriptioS  throwZ  r  i,.^''.!'''^''  onwards 

ish  history,  untn  the  invZ>rof^S'  '^''"'"^^'"  °"  J«^- 

byShalmaneserIL,8S4yS°B  r     ??' 1"^  ^^'"f"^ 
on  that  occasion,  was  ooSh^ .iP'f  ^''>'"«" ^ing, 

k'ngs.  among  whom  ^Tlu^P^^  ^^'"^^^  of  twdv^ 
claimed  a  great  victory^tef  Jhe  'alS  •f^'^°"^'^  ^« 
have  had  no  permanent  vafue      li  « '  '*  ^PP^*''^  *« 
inaneseragaininvadedSvrlaanAp  ?  !^^  ^- ^"  Shal- 
k«ng  of  Israel,  became  hS  vassal   S'^"';.^"^"'"^"' 
and  thus  gave  the  As-sv^oL^u  ^''  P^'*^  bim  tribute 
kingdom.^  There'  ^S?„Vtn  IS  ''"'",  '°^'  °"  ^fs' 
Greece  to  throw  any  lieht  !nnn         f^'^^'  ^""^'^  of 
brew  histoiy.     Grecian   i;L^°"t. ''?"*^'"P°'-ary  He- 
emergefroS^mytS  traS  ^''i^'  ^^S"" "« 

of  Israel  commenced  to  draw  ?"'  5'"  *^*;  ^'^gdom 
Babylonian  tablets,  of  the  i  J.^^'  "'  *^'°^e-  The 
some  light  on  the  rise  of  nat^n  !,"  P^"°^'  ^^ed 
set  forth  in  Genesis  x    and  nn^S    f"    ^'^^^  *='*'^«  as 

%xp.o.„r.HeE?or/S7^'.ttJfc;; 


BIBLE  HISTORY  BV  HIGHER  CRITICS.    4.3 

^'^Xio^^^^^^^  or  Assyrian 

all  these  circunisSnceTwe  faVheTTn^t^^^  ,'''°'" 
manner,  that,  outside  the  OM  t  '*  ^^"^  *='^^'"«* 
no  consecutive  material  of  »?  •  ^"**'"«^nt  "-ecords. 
exists  on  which  to  bSe  the  J'  ""P^-i^fn^e  whatever 
history,  for  the  lone  Deri*  hJ?'"^^''*'^"  °^  J^^^sh 

destruction  of  SolL^o'^^'telpTe'  'T^^  ""*"  '"^^ 
regards  Babvionian    hut-^    icmpie.      And    even   as 

Nebuchadnez'^t.  we  femo"/^^  ^^'"g"   ^^ 

the   Old  Testament  thfnf         '^   ^formation  from 

When   WellhauTen    aLn J-°"/  ^"^  P'°^^"^  s°"rce. 

Critics.  undX"to;"?:'S'r,^"f  .^i"^-  Higher 

have  only  two  sour  J,  to  ^^"Jf  JfW'sh  history,  they 

Old  Testamen°  aSS  thei  rown'nrn?r '  •  "^""^'y-  ^^e 
True  history  must  a  wlv,  r«. '^     ''^'^  '^aginations. 

cumstantial  evidence  Tr.ouL"^?'!,'^'^^  ^**^*'  ^"^ 
When  it  comes  to  be  L.H  '"^"<=«ve  reason, 
theorising  it  can  only  be  cJa!sed°  as  T?  ^P^^"'««ve 
and  destitute  of  all  claim  to  hicf  •  °/*^'"3'-y  Action, 
Let  us  see  what  Chri  ?  s^ys  of  thT?  '=?"^'<^"a«on. 

we  read  of  in  GenTss  Thorn   hS'i!"^'^^^'.  P"^°"» 
are  myths.  '      "^'^   Higher   Critics  say 

the  ett'andL'l^^^hln'^r.'"^  ^^^"  ^^-^  ^o- 

Matthew  xxii  3,   32.°^  '''"  ^""^  ^"'  °f  th<^  living." 

wheJ'yTshln'se'e  IbS'"'^.^?^^'"^  °^  *-«*. 
and  all  the  pUhets    [n   fh^t-'^i'"^"',""^  J^<=°b 
'""^CSf^^^^-^^^^  God.  and 

-^;;ph^^T;-l-rrht&-lJrsa^^^^ 


■^^] 


^1 


f^: 


U 


n 


424    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

from  f;?dL'5i*'S^*'"^^*  '■'  ^'"^  ^<="*  ""to  them 
hJm  Tf  fh      u  '  ^^"^^  ?:•"  '■*^P^"t-    And  he  said  unto 

dead  ••     I  .J  P^'.'"^^*^^'  t^°"gh  one  rose  from  the 
aead.      Luke  xvi.  29,  30,  31. 

romi^I'«  i""u  "'"''  ,""t°  ^''"'  This  day  is  salvation 

A^h^?^'^  {:r  xSt"'  ^'  '^  ^''° » ^  -"  °^ 

af  tifiT  *t^*  *u^  *'u^''  *•■*  "•'*««•'  «vcn  Moses  shewed 
Ahr.K  '*''  "?^"u  '^^^  ^^^'''^t'*  the  Lord  the  God  of 
facoh  p  *"k^  ^^"  ^°^^°f  '»"*=•  «nd  the  God  of 
Jacob.  For  he  is  not  a  God  of  the  dead  but  of  the 
hving :  for  all  live  unto  him."  Luke  xx.  37.  38 
h.Wlf  *l'  the  testimony  which   our   blessed   Lord 

ses^ed  ;hi'T?' •'^'''  ^°^  ^"'^  P*=^^^  «"«"'  *ho  pos 
bearl  ti  thf  "'^  omniscience  in  the  fullest  sense. 
oatrTarrh,  J»f".f°"^'T*'''''*^""  ^^  the  great  Jewish 
LTchevAe  »;;h''TV?*^''  '"^  J*^^'^-  Wellhausen 
J?i.hZ%-:-  ^"'^  *"  the  more  extreme  school  of  the 
M.r^h  ^L^-l.^'^^'f'"'  °J?.*h*^  °ther  hand,  hold  that  no 
such  md.v,duals  as  Abraham.  Isaac,  and  Jacob  ever 
existed,  lu^c  they  were  mere  legendary  mvths  •  anH 
that  when  Christ  alluded  to  thel  as  aTtu7  p:;so„st 

of  b^e?     Th?-^^"*  *"'  ?."^^"^  ^^«  ""worthy 
01  Deiief.    The  issue  according  y  is  plainly  raised 

between  the  unerring  Divine  Son  of  God  andihe 

tTresY  o?^.hT°'^"'f;  ^f'^^^^^"  *nd  Cheyne.  anJ 
nr.  iJcc  V^!  "■  *'"'*•  ^'^^  unquestionably  Stand  in 
and  1.'m  *'*'*^i''?'>'  P.°''*'°"'  ^«  '■^g^ds  Christiani  y 
^  fi^  f  « '?^^^''  ^°""*^«'"'  than  the  openly  avowed 
infidels  Paine  and  Ingersoll.  avowea 

hl.^«tH"f  *'^^''"^**  *°  **=*=^Pt  the  testimony  of  our 
blessed   Lord,  as  to  the  patriarchal   foundation   of 

«  ni!T-  "*^'°"'  ^""^  ""^J^ted  the  Book  of  Genesis, 
as  not  being  accurate  history,  Wellhausen  proceeds 

Z.lf!  "'a  ^"  5^"  '^^•■y  °^  the  order  of  Biblical 
events.      According  to   that  story  the  children  of 
Israel  were  not  the  descendants  of  Abraham  at  aU 
but  first  appeared  about  fifteen  centuries  beTore  the 


BIBLE  HISTORY  BY  HIGHER  CRITICS.    425 

»?uth"o?  Scstfnc'  LT'^'  *"'l^'  '"  '"^^  «''*'«'"<= 

land  of  GoshS     As  Jhe  ^cf,?^.'  ^  ""^''l-  '"*°  ^'^'^ 
a  few  years  of  thi^t  ^     *5*^  *'*'   S'vcs  lies  within 

was  originally  a  tribe  dwdl.V  g  on    he  border  oUhe 
?"lf  !<=  ?"«rt.  he  states  something  which  Has  Jot 

and  fhe  ^iSk"'/'?  °:.*=''-^"'"^t«"«  torest  upSn 
In  ,.  ^t''^^°°^  Of  Which  is  patent  upon  its  See 
In  support  of  this  falsehood  he  quotes  Genesis  ?x' 
26^  where  Noah  says.  "Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of 
Shem.  and  Canaan  shall  be  his  servant/^which  h^ 
no  however,  the  slightest  connection  with  the  cas? 
ip  wf.S-"'""''!!^  *°  «"'^  Wellhausen  bSsterlng 
TIt?ilr    •         ^^  declares  to   be  unworthy  of  belief 

^recetrthe"!.""  !!"  '"'''^^^'^"^  occurrences  wh  ch* 
K^?      }^   departure  of   the    Israelites  out    of 

Cf^^in  JrT^  "'  ^u^  '^""^^^  *h^  miracle  of  the 
te«s  r^bout  he  o '  °'^"'  '"^^f'^'"  ^•'•'^h  Genesis 
of  the  Red  q;»  gr'^"^*^'  to  describe  the  passage 
01  tne  Ked  Sea.     His  point  of  view  as  reeards  that 

ftS%C  ^'  <!"'*«  \«  well  sustafneiTysLply 

bottoS  o^Xr'\  *°  \^'f  ^  ^•"^'  "'hich  laid  fhe 
Dottom  of  the  sea  bare,  the  fugitives  were  enabled  to 
cross  over  safely;  but,  instefd,  he  mist  g?ve  re  n 
to  h.s  imagmation,  and  let  us  know  that  the  Eeypdan 
pursuers  also  crossed  over  to  the  opposite^shore 

and  th5r>^'^''?^.^y  ^°^^^'  ^"^  f°^«d  to  retreat; 
whll  i  u  '''u    '^"""^  ^^'^  "-^t^eat  they  were  over 
whelmed  by  the  returning  tide  and  an  adverse  whid 
His  account  of  this  great  battle  has  no  evidence  of 
any  kind  whatever  behind  it,  and  is  solely  ?he  product 
of  h.s  own  prolific  brain.     There  is  an  old  adage  to 


m  f 


'■| 


'''    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLF 

po:iTp%iT::.:^oto  n.   , ,,, ,,,, 

•n  one   breath?  that  thrisradJtiT  "  **^"'  "» 

strong  and  numerous  to  defeat  tS    *"^  '"fficiently 
host  of  Pharaoh  at  the  Red  SeJ  •  ^I'r?  ^»<='P"'ned 
them  afterwards  at  Kadesh    oA  ti   ^u^",  ^"^  P'»«« 
desert,  he  describes    in  anntK^    u**^  '*°'^<^''  of  the 
shepherds  as   fewfn   numbef     O^J'^^'*''"  ^°»''^" 
they  could  not  have  subsisted  ;h  ^^^'F^^^^  he  adds 
By-and-by.  however,  he  aSin  cZ"  Z'^^  **'*•'■  ^^'^k,. 
stating  that  the  /cw  GoScn.tTu^'^'''^'  ^'"'""^'f  hy 
defeat  the  Amo4?^i„  bttle  anS  h'^'  \""  "^'^  ^° 
that  part  of  Moab  which   the  1^"''^  *''*''"  °"t  of 
subdued  a  short  time  before     Oth.J^r  ^'"°"^"  ^ad 
prove  that  the  Goshen  shenh.;^  *'  exist  which 

nificant  people,  either  as  refe"^'  "'*^''l  "°*  ^"  '"sig- 
w.se.  when  they  emerged  ffo'.r'"^^^  °'  °»hef- 
commenced   their  career  of  co„^^  wilderness,  and 
and  Joshua.     Palestfne  was  th.„  1'"m^""''"-  ^oses 
d^erent  nations,  who  hS  strono'/'^  r^  ?^'°"'^«  of 
chief  positions,  ;nd  who  then  ?.!-y  /""^"^f^   ^^eir 
large  and  wel|.equipneda^J„"""J^^^  could  bring 
these  were  the  1?  S  ThZT  '}'  ^f/^"    ^monf 
who  in  the  previous  generatron'h'^/l"""^  P'^P^^' 
oppose  Rameses  II.  wh?n  at  tiA^i  H*^"  *^'«  to 
and   fought  a  great   hfll.        ..^^'S^*  of  his  power 

Rameses^la.^eTfhe'vSo^V'"?  ,f^  ^^^'^^^o 
shortly  afterwards  to  conS7;i"*  '^'.u  ^^'"Pelled 
king  on  perfect  terms  of^^'P^a^jl^T'th  the  gittite 
forces  formed  part  of  the  lar^^     ^'      T''®   Pittite 

and  chariots,  which  collect  J  If. ^^'■'">'•  ^'^^  ^^^^alrj. 
to  oppose  the  advance  of  Joh  \'"s  of  Merom 
defeated  them.     If  the  Goshln     if '  !!'^°  completely 

only  few  in  number  they  ?oulS  S^."''^'  ^'^  ^'^^ 
great  v  ctory  of  thi\  d^Z-  i  ""*  ''^^c  achieved  a 
jo  the  contr^ary  not^tl,^  r„d^ 

'n  the  witnes^s  bL  ^V?  i;;ro?^^7d:rle-:^ 


BIBLE  HISTORY  BY  HIGHER  CRITICS.    4.7 

constant  prcscn?atb!^' o^h  ^•d1a ''t'hT  ih  *''  •""'^' 
authors  ofthat  narrative  diHn,^?cf'*r  *''*'  °"e'"3' 
or  in  proper  sequence  '„h1 
the  lapse  of  an  Interval  of  .  ^^  ''"'"^^'f'  ^^^er 
knew  Sore  ab^ut  occurrenl,  of  ^  ^^^T  /"'"^nniums 
must  have  been  in  somrcas"  atti!?  ^'^"^^"^hors 
than  they  did     HlZl.fu       ^*'*'  eyewitnesses. 

operation^f  some  sort  of  secoL^T*''^-'   ''>'  ^'^^ 
out  all  the  historicartandes  whth^^  to  straighten 

having  been  or  ginallv  a ^1^^"''  1'?^  ^"^arded  as 
the  faS^ily  to  Sh '&o^^T  Cgjf  r^^^^ 

utel'ittugTSt^S^^^^^^^^^  «H'h-^ 

than  between  the  Assvrian  »^)^^  a    u  ^'•'  ®"y  '"°'"<= 

We  have  followed  WellL^?    .^''^"'  *"^  E'' 
far  to  enable  our  reade'sfo'?  '  ?°'^  sufficiently 
bilityas  a  Biblical  hlfoWo       ^^"u^*'  *"'  """  ""relia- 

1    »:• «    .        - 


I  ^."fyv?"'-.  Vol.  XIII.  p.  307. 

*  Vide  Ency.  Biblica,  Vol  ifp. 


22l8. 


'  '?^"J 


:^| 


-1' 

i4 


ii: 


428    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLF. 

times,  their  people  had  been  a  full  grown  tree  planted 
m  Canaan.    Events  of  the  wilderness  periodf  which 
never  come  into  the  full  daylight  of  hfetoiy  ^Is  they 
actually  happened,  are  presented  in  a  false  light  when 
they  are  related  as  events  in  the  life  of  a  united  and 
settled  people,  living  and  thinking  under  quite  other 
conditions,  such  as  Israel  did  not  attain  to  until  cen- 
turies afterwards  in  Canaan.    The  historian  must  not 
carry  back  the  settled  and  fully  organised  Lrael  of 
tne  land  of  Canaan  into  the  wilderness,  but  must  be- 
gin with  separate  pastoral  tribes  such  as  they  were 
there      Next  he  must  constantly  bear  in  mind  the 
peculiarity  of  the  narratives  he  works  with  — their 
if  Sendaiy  character."    It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say 
that  Guthes  story  opens  with  several  unveracious 
statements,  which  arc  wholly  destitute  of  proof.    Now 
m  relating  their  reminiscences  of  the  earliest  times' 
the  Israelites  never  claimed  to  be  a  full  grown  tree 
planted  in  Canaan.     On  the  contrary  they  always 
claimed,  and  still  claim,  to  have  been  descended  from 

*  !ir^i^  ."?^*Y!*!"^'  Abraham,  whose  grandson  Jacob 
settled  with  all  his  family  in  Egypt.   Then,  again,  how 
does  he  know  that  events  of  the  wilderness  period 
were  presented  in  a  false  light  ?    Outside  the  Penta- 
teuch nai.dtive,  nothing  whatever  is  known,  good, 
bad.  or  indifferent,  about  the  life  of  Israel  in  the  wil- 
derness; and  as  Guthe  declines  to  accept  that  narra- 
tive he  essays  to  present  us  with  one  of  his  own  man- 
ufacture, which  has  not  a  single  element  of  truth  to 
commend  it  to  consideration.    He  next  ignorantly 
blunders  into  an  anachronism,  and  tells  us  that  our 
earliest  notice  of  these  pastoral  tribes  (including  Israel) 
is  met  with  on  the  Egyptian  monuments,  whereon 
Kameses  III.  of  Dynasty  XX.  describes  the  demand  of 
certain  Edomites  for  admission  into  Egyptian  terri- 
tory, and  the  defeat  he  had   inflicted   upon  them. 
Meneptah  I.  entirely  disappears  from  Egyptian  his- 
tory with  the  Exodus,  a  fact  which  goes  to  prove  that 
he  perished  with  his  army  in  the  Red  Sea.    This  huge 


BIBLE  HISTORY  BY  HIGHER  CRITICS.    429 

disaster  led  to  the  greatest  confusion  throughout 
*^Sypt;  and  during  the  subsequent  reigns  of  Seti  II 
and  Meneptah  II.  the  great  empire  which  Seti  I.  and 
Kamcses  II.  and  their  predecessors  had  built  up  almost 
crumbled   wholly   into    fragments.     This   disastrous 
period  termmated  with  the  advent  of  Rameses  III.  to 
the  throne,  who  defeated  the  Edomites  probably  about 
fifty  years  after  the  Exodus,  or  when  Joshua  was  sub- 
dumg  Canaan.     Rameses  III.  became  Pharaoh  many 
years  after  the  Exodus;  the  events  of  his  reign  had 
never  any  connection  with  the  Israelites,  and  he  never 
mentions  them  in  any  of  his  numerous  inscriptions, 
ihe  Israelites  are  mentioned  on  a  stele  of  Meneptah  I 
dating  shortly  before  the  Exodus,  but  are  never  al- 
luded to  in  inscriptions  either  before  or  afterwards. 
As  an  Egyptologist  Guthe  appears  to   be  quite   as 
unreliable  as  he  is  as  a  Biblical  narrator.     He  next 
proceeds  to  tell  us  "that  the  Israelites  during  the  So- 
journ continued  to  observe  the  customs  and  usages 
of  nomads,  and  were  consequently  regarded  by  the 
civilised  Egyptians  as  utter  barbarians,  who  had  neither 
part  nor  lot  in  their  own  public  life.    As  to  the  period 
of  their  immigration  into  the  eastern  part  of  the  Nile 
Delta  and  the  duration  of  the  Sojourn  we  have  no 
trustworthy  data.    Nor  is  it  easy  to  say  which  of  the 

!r  J^*;i'"i^®*  °^  ^^'^^^  ^°°^  P»rt  «n  >t-  According  to 
the  Old  Testament  indeed  all  of  them  did  so,  but  it 
can  easily  be  shown  that  this  representation  is  not  his- 
torical. Nor  can  it  be  even  plausibly  made  out  from 
the  narrative  that  all  the  twelve  tribes  were  contem- 
poraneous." As  to  the  Exodus,  Guthe  states  "  that  in 
the  end  Pharaoh  felt  himself  compelled  to  yield  to 
the  demands  of  Moses,  and  give  the  tribe  of  Israel  the 
hberty  to  migrate."  He  keeps  much  closer  to  the 
Bib  heal  account  of  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea  than 
Wellhausen,  and  has  nothing  to  say  about  the  latter's 
great  battle  on  the  opposite  shore,  which  he  evidently 
regarded  as  too  apocryphal  to  be  furbished  up  for  a 
second  historical  occasion. 


■  1 


f-i 


430    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

nafm^'ili*  ****  unveracious  jumble  thatGuthe  seeks  to 
palm  off  upon  us  as  sober,  truthful,  history     What 

S:an'eT?rom°'th?M  ''-"^^  ^^^'^^^  coilZonlyt 
faSSoX  V  f/^'*"  narrative;  the  remainder  is 
SmSi^  n^  ^T*'**  P"'*' ^"**  ^•"'P'«-  As  already 
nf  fc^' J^°  contemporaneous  narrative,  or  standard 

tL.7  '^'  *'*"^'  ^r  *^''=*»  B'^^J'^al  history  can  be 
tested.     We  must  either  take  that  history  as  it  stands 

resoTtother."  ""''T'-  ^"u*'^^'  "J^^WelKen; 
of  ?il  T  *^f.?^*'°"-  .Durmg  the  Sojourn  only  a  part 
of  the  Israelites  continued  to  live  in  tents,  and  when 
he  passover  was  instituted  mention  is  only  made  of 
spnnkhng  the  blood  of  the  sacrificial  animaUn  the 

ou  .u  L''  7-)  Nor  IS  there  a  scrap  of  evidence  to 
theY  *^^f?'  Egyptians,  before  the  ExodusrSeS 
the  Israelites  as  utter  barbarians.    Even  if  the  latter 

Tand  '  ^'■"•'  '^'P^'i^'  *^^"  '^^  Sojourn  fiJst  began 
£i  ^^'■*'^'  "°.  authority  for  a  supposition  of  that 
like  tff  h'I*"  intelligent  and  quick-witted  people 
ihl  1      "^^5?«'s.  must  have  learned  much  during 
their  long  residence  of  430  years  in  Egypt.     We  must 

iong  stretch  of  the  imagination.  When  he  savs  that 
no  trustworthy  data  exist  as  to  the  period  ofTraers 

SlTV-1^''  '"*;?  '"^^  eas?errpar;  of  tie 
iNile  Delta,  he  unintentionally  speaks  the  truth  as  nn 
such  immigration  ever  took  place.  When  Jacob  wen^ 
desTendttf^P'  ^'  mere/took  his  o:n1mmedTa?e 

wkh  him  ?„'hTP°'^*^  °^^'^  ^°"^  ^"<1  grandsons, 
witft  him,  and  they  were  a  family  not  a  tribe     Gene 

SIS  supplies  the  fullest  informaUon.  as  regards  that 
mon?'fr'  ''"'^"^'^^  ^"J'""  to  accepf  ts  testi 
tTonsVste  J'T^"'  ^•'.''^  ^'^  °^"  speculative  no- 
iurn  of  fh^'rh^![°''"?  ""ii-  4°'  41.  states  that  the  So- 
iZu  °\^^^J^^,'}dren  n  Egypt  lasted  for  430  years- 

and  tdbt  ?h.'  '"'%*°  '"^Pf*'^^^  definitetiateS. 
ana  tells  us  that  no  trustworthy  data  on  this  noini-ev 
•St.  which  is  flatly  contradicted^yVe^bhcdnlrra: 


BIBLE  HISTORY  BY  HIGHER  CRITICS.    431 

Wh^n^t,'^""^"  ^y  **'*'  ^^""^  ^e  have  just  quoted 
tnt^,  Ff"^^  ^^'^P*'*^^^'  ^  to-^'hich  of  the  twelve 
bdn^  cali'"^'' '"'°  ^Sypt.  and  as  to  their  noVeven 
being  contemporaneous,  he  gets  lost  at  sea  a^ain  in  a 
nd^ulous  sort  of  way.  Genesis  is  the  only  aSrit? 
Inr?  «f  r*  1"''/^^'  *^"^  "*  that  the  heads.  or^c"2^ 
neous  a?d'tJ:?rH  '"''''  °^^^^^^'  *«'*^  co'ntem^ora. 

dence  of  any  kind,  direct  nor  indirect  to  estabUsh  ftc 

rarSLSlt"'""  "?■ .  Aft"  a  liberal  but  £m*! 
wnat  Hesitating,  use  of  the  words  perhaos  lepenH 
and  supposit  on,  and   a  complete  fgnS  of  the 

Z^ln^A  P'T''  °f  Egypt.  Guthe^ellu^s  that  in 
the  end  Pharaoh  was  finally  compelled  to  accede  to 

l5f.^"i^^^  °^  ^°'"'  ^"d  S^^  th?  tribes  of  Israel  the 
ever'^h^.'"'^'!" •    u""  '^'^^"y  ^^^g^t^  *«  tell  us' hot- 
pI/«^^5/^'  the  character  of  the  compelling  force 
Pharaoh  Meneptah,  who  then  sat  upon  the  thfone  of 
Egypt,  was  the  most  powerful  sovereign  in  exis?ence 
The  great  empire  which  his  father  Ramese7TT    ho^i 
bequeathed  to^^him.  was  still  at  the  hdgrof  i "  gr^^^^ 
deur,  and  his  authority  was  supported  by  a  Ce  and 
well.appo.nted  regular  army/iet  us  p^ctureTo  our 
mmds  this  greatest  of  earthly  sovereigns  a  man  of 

sixty years.of ripened  inteUect^eateTronhisTone 
m  Ae  great  audience  hall  of  the  magnificent  palace  at 

?wo  olLSrcUH  '"^  ^""°""d«d  by  a  brilliant  court 
1  wo  plainly  clad  men,  Moses  and  Aaron,  are  pres- 
ently introduced  mto  this  august  presence,  in  order  to 

sTot'tolfrRl*^'*^  ^'^^"^^  make  cerkTn  conces. 
sions  to  his  Hebrew  slaves.     This  demand  showed  a 

t  a'nd  r"h"r^  Tv!'^' '  •'"^  J^h°^^h  wa^  behind 
It.  and  the  hands  of  his  servants  were  strengthened 
accordingly  and  they  proved  themselves  equal  to  the 

tlieTddTvS'the'^n^  •"'■"^'^^  "'^"'^y  ^"^  fi^-n-' 
iney  delivered  the  Divine  message  to  Pharaoh  with 

whjch  they  were  charged.     "  Thus%aith  the  Lord  God 

of  Israel,  Let  my  people  go  that  they  may  hold  a  feTt 


) 


432    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

unto  me  in  the  wilderness."  We  mav  well  imaoin* 
with  what  mingled  disdain  and  angHhe  ireSS 
heard  this  message.  The  HebrewsTad  been  hfs  ow? 
bondmen  for  years,  and  the  bondmen  of  Se  crown 
fn  tJJrf?  S^"l"5°"»;  «nd  such  an  insolent  demand 
•  Mi  ^''T?"''  ^^^  "*^^"  b*=«  *nade  before.    «  Who 

•^haU°sho 'ih"^k"^S?'"^'?^^^  ^^"*^P*«h  in  Response! 
that  I  should  obey  his  voice  to  let  Israel  go  ?   I  know 

fore  fh. V'^^P.w^i!*'^^*^"^^*  '°  ^"'"We  himself  b2^ 
fore  the  Lord  that  he  had  not  previously  known  and 

le°tTa"uo^tvt".H'*""*^'^  "^*'°"^'  ^^°-"-"' 
let  Israel  go.     By  no  other  process  could  the  Exodus 

^ariiftrd^rn?^" '•  ^"'  f  ^^^^  ^^'^  ''  Ment" 
SffiL        from  his ^r:.  fed  and  unarmed  bondmeh 

or  cL'nTshfrk?';?^'  '  "'  ^""^  ^«P««»  Wellhausen 
t«  f:n  ^  '  ^*»"^'«s  *he  question  at  issue,  and  declines 
to  tell  us  why  or  how  Pharaoh  was  compelled  to  let 
Israel  go  mto  the  wilderness.     Such  a  ?esult  could 

sur/es"' TheT  P",?"^^  ""^'^^  ordVa^  circum' 
t£.".«  ;    The  compellmg  force  must  have  been,  on 

D.rtS'^T'J'^%^l'y  P°^^^"'  ^"^  """«"al  character" 
TwTs^  f/.?^*"r"^'^?"'^"*^  the  miraculous 
ihere  is  a  background  to  the  picture  which  Guthe 
declines  to  investigate,  and  that*^  background  point^ 

r^Sve  ofTh/F"''j'°  *^^  *;"*^  °^*h^  miraculou^nar^ 
rative  of  the  Exodus,  which  we  find  in  the  Bible  than 
It  does  to  his  idle  unhistorical  vagaries  As  a  hiV 
torian  he  shows  himself  to  be  a  mere  paiSsan  aid 
wholly  unreliable;  and  is  entitled  to  no^fuS  no- 
tice at  our  hands.  What  we  have  said  about  hfm 
however,  and  the  quotations  we  have  made  from  h?s 

rect'l',r  ^r"'  ••*'"  """^^«  °"^  ^^^ders  to  formTco  ! 
redt  estimate  of  its  untrustworthiness. 

forml!^^'*^'*'''*""^"*  °^  ^^  F^^st  °f  the  Passover 
formed  one  great  connecting  link  between  the  Ex- 
odus from  Egypt  and  the  subsequent  life  of  the 
Jewish  people.  In  the  same  way  the  Ark  of  the 
Covenant  formed  the  historical  link  between  their 


BIBLE  HISTORY  BY  HIGHER  CRITICS.    433 

earlier  desert  life,  and  their  national  existence  after 
wards  until  the  destruction  of  the  teS  by  Nelu.' 
iti^'TV  P?"°^  °^  ^""y  "•"«  hundVed  and  six?y 

rno:?d\^°tar-  si>^-t^TJsS 

rni«!-  L      '".^^•"g  of  a  tabernacle,   or  tent  of 

Sy.f;a"'"Tie' ^r*^  "°"^'  minister  "efo'^the 
with  fhe  ChJiZ  f "?  ",'"*'  °"'  °f  *h«  wilderness 
Dart  n  the  Ir  °^  ^V^'  ^1^  P'^^^^  «"  important 
fer?cho  Th.  Tk^  °^  f''^  J^""^^"'  ^"^  'he  fall  of 
inH  I  *"    tabernacle   continued   to    shelter  it 

and  was  afterwards  established    permanently    wih 

S  sJE'^'^L^V^  '^\^^°^'  J^^'^h  congregatTo'n*^ 
at  bhiloh;  which  now  became  the  central  nnint^f 
the  nation's  religious  life,  and  the  re^Sence^  of  the 
nJ^n/TM  ^°  ^°"^*  '^^  tabernacle,  large^  formed 
of  penshable  materials,  gradually  fell'  intS  d^isrepair 
After  a  time  a  substantial  temple  was  constr„rfI!i 

was  placed,  and  the  use  of  the  tabernacle  was  dk 
contmued   altogether.   (Samuel  i.  9.)     This  temole" 
was  evidently  afterwards  destroyed  by  the  PhifsZe! 
after  their  victory  over  the  Israelites  a^t  Ebeneze    and 

e^stet^Jhe'lr^'''-  m"^'  ''''  ^^'"P'^  continued  ' 
nfnrl?  fu  "^^  '^°"^**   Unquestionably  have  been 

placed  there,  when  it  was  broueht    back  bv  th2 

^e'l^r-    T^\H'gher  Critics  mafntlin  that  h^J^^ 

lurlif  ""q^^"  \^^-  "°  P'^*=^  •"  the   annals  of  the 
Judges  or  Samuel,  it  never  existed  at  any  time     This 

ark'mad"f?he1rb^''^-,  ^'^'^  construJtfrof'ihe 
ark  made  the  tabernacle  a  necessary  protection 
One  was  the  complement  of  the  othe?  Cheyne  Tn 
the  IrlYuf  r'^''  Biblica,"  admits  the  eSce  of 
truth  nf*i  ''^'"""  *°.*''^*  °^  ^^^  tabernacle.  The 
truth  of  the  matter  is  that  both  alike  link  the 
wandering  desert  life  of  the  Israelites  wh  their 
subsequent  settled  life  in  Canaan. 

28 


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«' 


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;f 


CHAPTER  XIX, 


SUMMING  UP  THE  EVIDENCE  IN  THE  CASE. 

55[^  ^''\u°\^''}^  ^^°'''  °*""  '«»ders,  as  briefly  as 
L.c«c  ^i  w°'^  '^\'^'^'"  *^^  ^•'^'^  *"d  Christianity. 
hT^W  r^  v^-^'^'S?.^'^"^*^'  Agnosticism,  and  the 
H  gher  Criticism  When  we  come  to  take  a  full  and 
calm  survey  of  the  evidence  in  the  premises,  we  can- 
not  fail  to  realise  that  no  good  grounds  exist  for  the 
abandonment  of  even  a  single  one  of  the  orthodox  be- 
liefs.  which  the  Christian  world  has  held  for  the  pS 
nineteen  centuries.  We  may  have  to  modify  our 
opinions  somewhat,  here  and  there:  to  make  due 
allowance  for  manifest  errors,  chronological  and 
otherwise,  which  have  crept  into  the  text  of  the  Old 

i^f  Sl"f  ?u 'P*"!^f  •  ^^^  *''"*'  *°  *'"»«•  but  that  is 
all.  While  the  golden  thread  of  inspiration  unites  its 
se%-eral  books  into  one  great  whole,  we  cannot  hold 
[nfi  *'',%.P*^Pt'»l«  mistakes  of  copyists,  or  unwise 
interpolations  by  one  redactor  after  another,  were 
inspired.  In  the  light  of  modern  research  and  dis- 
covery   archaeological. and  literary,  we  have  most 

wo'?wVk°-^.-*"''°"  the  doctrine,  held  by  so  many 
worthy  Christian  people  in  the  past  and  present,  of 
the  plenary  inspiration  of  everything  and  every  word 

I^li/n?  •  •  ?"*'  ^*  u*^^.  '^"^  ^'"'^'  ^hile  the  mis- 
takes of  copyists,  or  the  interpolations  by  redactors 
constitute  only  a  very  small  percentage  of  the  text 
and  are  merely  academic  and  not  fundamental  in 
their  character,  the  vast  inspired  remainder  embodies, 
m  the  fullest  manner,  the  whole  counsel  of  an  all- 
omniscient  God  for  the  guidance  and  instruction  of 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  EVIDENCE      435 

agnosticism,  will  be  alwavs  surf  »:.«"*'''?  .P"'* 
Bible      T»i#.ir  J»-      '•'.ways  sure  to  conflict  with  the 

rewarrfQ   an^  •  u  '^^"S'on  — >n  a  future  state  of 

a  niuin*  tP      /  I**  ^^"^^'  *"«*  in  accordance  with 
ositv  that  thL  nl  .  ^   '"""  *"«'"  »"■'  Ponder- 

Sfc^rorM;tc„ft?iS^^^^^^ 


:  r 


i 


J 


:i 


,t 


''-::f^ 


436    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

fully  worked  out.    But  unlike  the  devout  Newton  he 
was  an  agnostic,  and  hence,  and  in  order  to  justify 
J^Ji?        '"  *  great  First  Cause,  he  aftemards 
essayed  to  account  for  the  origin  of  the  universe  by 
ITr^^r  "'tu   *^?>"*'°"f  a  "nee  theory  impossible  of 
fl^u       cuV^ u °*^'?S  *°  **»°^^  that  the  sun  could 
f=f!^    •''f    l^"*  ^^l  universe,  never  could  have  oscil- 
tSrolr«ffK  ^'  *'.''''  ^^^19'^^^'  and  never  could  have 
thrown  off  huge  rings  which  presently  developed  into 
the  several  planets.    All  these  notions  embSdy  un- 
ZfuJ'Jll  absurdities  alike  opposed  to  every  liw  of 
natural  physics  and  of  common-sense.     It  is  equally 
lnT*Vf^u°^'''''^  to  suppose  that  the  great  pllnets, 
1^1       Tv^  ?i"2"^  ^^'^  '"*•  ^*='«  at  one  time  huge 
globes  of  liquid  fire,  and  that  the  cooling  and  con- 
tracting process  occupied  vast  periods  of  time,  and 
that  in  some  cases  this  process  still  continues.    If 
^nLlZ^  '     ^*''*  ^'^V^  ""'Sfht  well  be  asked  in  what 
condition  must  we  find  our  earth  to-day?    Instead  of 
presenting  the  appearance  of  a  solid  body,  formed 
by  regular  strata  of  various  substances,  necessary  to 
the  well-being  and  progress  of  mankind,  such  as  clay 

wS  Z"r;i^  ^  •"^^'■'  ^'^I^^''  *^°^''  ^d  so  forth,  it 
would  simply,  and  m  acc  .-dance  with  natural  physical 

law.  be  an  undistinguisnable  molten  mass  of  one 
Character,  and  such  as  every  great  fire  leaves  behind 
evervlwL  "^^  melting-pot  would  have  devoured 
eveo^thmg;  and  our  earth,  accordingly,  would  have 

»nH  .  t  ""f^  ^'^^'V"}  ^*^^  ^•■°"»  *hat  it  is  now, 
and  entirely  unsuited  for  the  uses  of  mankind.  These 
plain  physical  facts  demonstrate,  in  the  clearest  man- 
1^1  J^/i."^''  .*?rthlessness  of  evolutionary  ideas,  as 
regards  the  origin  of  the  universe,  and  proclaim  anew 

^tJTl^^u^  ^^^^  *^^*  "  ^"  *e  beginning  God 
created  the  heaven  and  the  earth."  This  grand  fact 
remains  wholly  undisturbed  by  all  astronomical  truths 
supportec  by  solid  proof,  and  mere  speculative  ideas, 
unsupported    by  any    proof   whatever,   in  no   way 


[^V't    *  i_ 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  EVIDENCE.      437 

♦n?».\,*^*  agnostic  may  plead,  that  even  if  he  fails 
to  sustain  an  unbcheving  view  of  the  Creation  from 
nLf  !l°'!°'?"*'*'  standpoint,  geology  certainly  sup- 

tKiii**  T^  "  P°.'".'  ""^  ''*^»  •*  d°^»  nothing  Sf 
the  kmd  There  is  neither  a  beginning  nor  an  end 
to  anything  m  geology.  All  its  histories  are  records 
without  dates.  It  cannot  tell  when  any  of  its  periods! 
be  they  short  or  long,  begin;  and  does  not  presen 

ZrZ'^  '''*"  .^  T-^'"  '"''*='*°"«  to  determine  the 
commencement  of  its  progress,  in  any  direction,  or 

of  Z  *""?;,  ^T  *.1^  *^"^  '*  '^^^^t'^hes  the  surface 
of  the  earth,  and  tells  us  about  the  secrets  it  has 
discovered,  in  a  few  isolated  localities,  to  leave  all  the 
vast  remainder  still  in  darkness  and  doubt.    When 

LJIT'  !'°^  *^f  '^Sion  of  demonstrated  fact, 
ascends  into  the  cloud-lands  of  mere  theory,  and 
begins  to  dose  us  with  speculative  notions,  it  aban- 
dons all  claims  to  our  further  confidence.  Scores 
of  the  speculations  put  forward  by  Lyell  and  geolo- 
gists of  lesser  note,  during  the  middle  of  the  past 
century,  are  year  after  year  being  disproved,  in  our 
own  generation,  by  fresh  scientific  research  and  new 
discovery.  At  what  particular  time  the  world  began, 
or  m  what  manner  it  afterwards  progressed  to  it^ 
present  condition,  is  just  as  much  a  sealed  book  to 

wlfuSr??-  ??l°^''l'  ^J*  '■'  *°  *h*^  peasant  who 
whistles  behind  the  plough.  Nor  can  the  geologist 
tell  us  whether  the  progress  of  the  world?  up.  we 
will  say,  to  the  Deluge  was  a  miraculous  ine.  like 

i^L  Ji^^u°n  '^^^^'  °'  ^^^^^^'  *»»«*  progress  pro- 
ceeded wholly  on  natural  physical  lines,  of  the  true 
character  of  which  he  knows  absolutely  nothing. 
1  he  more  I  know."  says  the  great  but  humble  and 
devout  Newton,  "the  more  I  find  I  do  not  know; " 
and  that  is  the  condition  of  all  human  knowledge 
to-day.  The  pride  of  learning,  in  every  department 
of  acquirement  resting  on  an  agnostic  basis,  has 
been  inflated,  of  recent  years,  to  a  degree  of  pre- 
sumption   beyond   all    reasonable    bounds.      Three 


I 


I 


•f 


;II 


i 


in 


438    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

afterwards,  but  uninten«o«^ul  i".'*'*^  •  y«t  *>« 
to  establish  the  trS  of  h!  i  *^  T  ''°"^  ^'^  ""ch 
Cause,  and  \hVfa  t  of  i'Deh.^^a^^Nrj'*  ^'"^ 
more  fully  from  our  chaoteTs  of  r  i*'"  ^^'*^" 
Flood.  The  more  our  rl/1  Geology  and  the 
character  of  geXica^sc  «^^^^^  *^'  »^"« 

new  one  at  its  best  and  .f?n"'  **»•5^."  on'y  a  veiy 

directly  opposes  the  principirof  tSrcJeat^on  °?T 
universe  by  God      liiat  ^q  KuJu-  i     .*^'^^*"0"  of  the 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  EVIDENCE.     439 

llglous  belief.    With  another,  and  much  larger  class. 

the  theory  is  gladlv  hailed  as  affordine  a  welcome 

deliverance  from  afi  scruples  of  consd fncerand  Tu 

In*n?h.!i"  ^"efft«^^hlcf  to  them  reprwe^S  only 

eJolu  on**'?'  ^"2"^***  f^*"  "  '^'"ti'K:  »tandpolnt^ 
evolution  degrades  man  from  the  exalted  rank  of  a 

of'"aVerie?ff'-  ^V'"^^^  of  God  to  the  descenSint 
who  J  ?n?  •  ^  "^'^"''°''  *"**  *^«"  *''"t»h.  animals, 
of  evolutfo^'  ?i?'*"°'*'"-  According  to  the  doctrine 
Of  evo  ution.  there  exists  no  good  cause  for  the 
beginning  of  the  world,  and  no  definite  purpose  for 
Its  end.     The  evolutionist  declines  to  regard  the 

rnfinf.?'  V^^  ''"."''  °^  *  ^^^^'^t'^^  P'«n.  arishig  from 
mJ»J„  J"*^""**!"**  goodness,  and  Approaches  inanU 
mate  nature  as  though  it  were  a  mere  chaos  of  fallen 

tSfn  «V '  •  *".""**?  "'*"•■*  "  »  purposeless  produc- 
tion  of  animal  existence.  It  leaves  us  no  middle 
ground  to  stand  upon.  It  will  not  permit  uneven 
finiXT'  *•?!•  ^°^"«?t«d  the  world  in  a  partly  un- 
finished condition,  and  then  left  it  to  be  completed  by 
the  processes  of  evolution.  The  clear  hard  logic  of  its 
greatest  apostle  Herbert  Spencer,  leaves  no%round 
for  the  supposi  ion  that  the  Creator  applied  evolu- 
bonary  principles,   in  a    secondary  waj,  to  make 

?o  sumtn^h'  \*^,  '^^  ''»  \"  unfinished' condSn! 
10  sum  up  the  whole  case,  the  theory  of  evolution 

e;r.;1h°."r°  '1  i°^'^H  <=onclusion.  3bolly  exclude 
Shrf  ^"7.'«dS«.  of  a  Divine  Creatof.  and  the 
possib  ity  of  his  work.     We  are  thus  left  with  only 

CreVor'oT'alMV  '^'-  ^^  *°  ^'^^^^^  »'«^«"  ^ 
th^^^J  ,  *<?'"2'  '"  ^**^*^"  *"«J  •"  «arth.  or  the 
theory  of  evolu  ion.  -  between  a  world  governed  by 

mnrir.T  ^""^'  ""I?  *  ^"^'^   '"  »  «>ndition   o^f 
moral    chaos,   controlled    by  accident    or    chance 
What  madness  it  would  be  for  any  Christian  man 

ILTZV",  '"7^"'^'-  f.^  ^°P^  of'^a  blessTd  hTrel 
after  and  a  firm  trust  m  his  or  her  Bible,  and  in  the 

ruskToTthfthl"'n-°^.^°^.'  '■^^  '^'  ^'y'  ^orthleSj 
nusks  of  the  theoretic  doctrines  of  evolution. 


r 


■•■I 


I'ili 


440    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

With  regard  to  chronology,  either  tacred  or  pro- 
fane, there  are  no  religious  features  about  it  which 
reauire  any  lengthened  notice  in  this  brief  summary, 
and  especially  as  our  chapter  on  that  branch  of 
science  gives  all  necessary  information  to  the  reader. 
The  Biblical  student  will,  however,  have  always  to 
stand  persistently  on  guard  against  the  wiles  of  ag- 
nosticism in  this  direction,  as  well  as  in  every  other. 
A  few  decades  ago  the  agnostic  maintained  with  the 
greatest  tenacity  tnat  Moses  could  never  have  written 
the  Pentateuch,  because  the  world  was  an  extremely 
ignorant  one   in   his  day,  and   the  art  of  writing 
was  still  unknown.    Archaeological  discovery  having 
plainly  proved  the  opposite  of  this  contention,  and 
that  education  widely  prevailed  at  the  time  of  the 
Exodus,  the  agnostic's  position  became  wholly  un- 
tenable.    He  accordingly  shifted   his  ground   with 
chameleon-like   rapidity  and  cropped  up  in  a  new 
direction.     The  world  he  now  declared  was  much 
i  ier  than  the  Bible  represented  it  to  be,  and  in  order 
to  discredit  its  history  ancient  chronology.  Egyptian 
and  Babylonian,  was  extended  backwards  to  fabulous 
lengths  which  it  is  needless  to  say  had  no  foundation 
in  fact.    These  sorts  of  attacks  come  now  in  the  most 
persistent  and  insidious  manner  from  all  directions  — 
from  the  scientists  of  the  British  and  other  great 
museums,  and  even  from  clerical  Biblical  exegesists, 
who  have  weakly  surrendered  their  minds  to  the 
popular  errors  of  the  day.  For  example,  in  the  "  Illus- 
trated Bible  Treasury,'^  attached  to  Nelson  &  Sons' 
Reference  Bible,  the  period  of  Sargon  I.  is  placed  at 
3800  years  B.  C,  whereas  the  true  period  was  accord- 
ing to  George   Smith,   Professor  Sayce,>  and  other 

1  This  was  Professor  Sayce's  opinion  until  quite  a  recent  period. 
The  explorations  at  Nippur,  by  the  Pennsylvania  University  Explor- 
ing Expeditions  of  recent  years,  have  led  him  to  place  the  period  of 
Sargon  at  a  more  remote  date.  This  circumstance,  however,  does 
not  alter  the  facts  of  the  case,  and  we  repeat  that  the  absence  of  a 
true  chronological  startinR-point  prevents  the  placing  of  any  event 
correctly  until  about  the  Al>rahamic  period,  or  shortly  before  it 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  EVIDENCE.      441 

leading  •uthoritiei .  about  2400  ycari  b.  c.    The  ten- 
dency  to  run  Into  great  extremes  it  one  prominent 
feature  of  the  many  weptical  fads  of  the  present  day 
mi*?       *  "'''"'=*'  "*"^*"'»  •*'°"'^  alwiySbearTn 

vs  ^"„?J  ^P"*;  <=^''P»<^"  of  this  book  extending  from 
VI.  to  IX.,  inclusive,  we  have  dealt  with  the  religions 

-L  -t  J"3  "''*'°"'  °^  ^^^  «"«=•«"*  P«»g«n  world, 
r«?M^***'''  ^°''  .mpossibic  it  was  that  a  Messiah 
could  spring  from  any  of  them.  There  was,  accord" 
ingly,  an  absolute  necessity  for  the  founding  of  a  new 
nation,  devoted  to  the  worship  of  the  one  true  God 
from  which  the  Redeemer  of  the  world  could  legitU 

IS!  fV"'">\u'^'''**'.*'"  ^"  divinely  selected  to  be 
the  father  of  that  nation,  and  his  immediate  descend- 

wSiJ'"''    *"^   Jacob    were   no  mere   myths,  as 
We  Ihausen  and   his   fellow    Higher   Critics   asUrt. 

volh?H  Jri"^  '"f"'  **'°'*  .P"»°"*'  existence  was 
vouched  for  by  no  less  an  authority  than  Christ  him- 
self,  as  we  have  already  shown  elsewhere.    The  suc- 
ceeding chapters  down  to  xvli.  review  the  Biblical 
r„TwT  °^  *^  Beginning  of  Things,  the  interven- 
ing  history  of  mankind  up  to  the  Deluge,  and  the 
many  existing  proofs,  geological  and   otherwise,  of 
riw^T!?  catastrophe    the  rise  of  the  Abrahamic 
period,  the  Exodus,  and  the  life  afterwards  of  the  new 
Hebrew  nation  up  to  the  death  of  Moses.    These 
several  stages  form  the  great  religious  miler,tones  of 
the  world  s  ancient  history.    In  dealing  with  topics  of 
such  vast  importance  to  all  Christian  people,  we  have 
presented  to  our  readers  many  facts,  much  circum- 
stantial  evidence,  and  various  probable  suppositions, 
all  tending  to  substantiate  the  truth  of  the  Biblical 
narrative  as  we  find  it  in  the  Book  of  Genesis.    The 
writer  sincerely  hopes  that  by  his  presentation  of  the 
whole  case,  the  reader's  faith  in  that  narrative  will 
receive  new  strength  and  support,  and  his  doubts,  if 
ne  had  any,  be  dissipated. 


If 


■  It 


442    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

In  dealing  with  the  Higher  Criticism  department  of 
o?T"oM  T^^r''  ^'  ^'^^^  ^'^'  """'  textSaranaJy^, 
soeSalu?,  •„  H  l*"*""*  «^"Pt"'-es  to  those  Christian 
speciahsts  m  Hebrew  who  are  alone  competent  to 

S        ?'?^^'^y'\^'''^  ^ave  confined  ourselves  to  a 

IZZ^r  *^^  '^''""*,  ^'^^*"'"*^^  *h'*=»^  ^'"body  more 
interest  for  the  general  reader.     But  in  point  of  fact 

Sfi  T  T'^'f^'^l  ^*X^  '"^  thoroughly  threshed  out 
the  textual  and  other  sides  of  the  questions  at  issue. 

terv  wS.^"°"  of  even  ordinary  intelligence  can  now 
very  fairly  gauge  their  merits,  pro  and  con.     We 

.Wh'n-*^  f^;  '""T'  °S  '^'  "'gh^^  Critidsm  from 
ite  atheistical  founders.  Spinoza  and  Astruc.  through 
one  rationalist  after  another,  until  it  finall^  became 
crystallised  by  Wellhausen  and  Cheyneinto  the  shape 
.n  which  we  now  find  it.    In  their  hands,  and  in  tho?e 

well  be  \^1"T^  ^"*='P.^"' ''  <=°"«tit"tes  what  may 
rd^lion  InT  1  ^  ^?nsP"-acy  against  all  orthodo  J 
ooi?  "V^  p.**"  ^.'''•"^  humanity  of  Christ,  with 
Sh'wiiS'v'  •^'^g'«'"ateW  Robertson 
seS^^f  ^'    moderation,  and  all  his  Christian 

supporter  of  Wellhausen  and  Cheyne,  and  their 
t^SoT^f  2"!'^"lP°'-a"es;  and  endorsed  the  general 
tenor  of  their  views.  Driver,  despite  all  his  plausl 
bihty  of  argument,  and  all  his  assumed  fairness    is 

cTon'olf 'tLVr"lf  P^^'^^-^^nt;  while  Chern;  a 
canon  of  the  Church  of  England,  openly  flouts  the 
doctrines  which  he  solemnl/pledged  h  mseff  at  his 
ordination  to  uphold  and  teach.  The  liTgher  Crit ! 
cism  apostasy,  for  such  it  may  well  belermed  I 

alone''  TlT'''''  '°"^"1.  *°  '^'  Church  of  E^gLd 
esJiS  i  'scommontoall  the  other  orthodox  Prot- 
estant churches  as  well.  Its  baneful  literature  has 
been  widely  circulated  among  their  clerical  orders 
?ultv  tLT'^  ;yell  imagine  with  what  doubt  and  diffil 
culty  those  who  have  secretly  imbibed  its  poison  can 
preach  the  pure  gospel  of  Christ  from  th^  Spits 
The  voice  of  conscience  must  surely  tell  them  S 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  EVIDENCE.      443 

wZn'\u''*^^,^  a  double^ealing  and  deceitful  part 
When    the  Illustrious  Athanasius  encountered  ^Jhe 

yea?TDl«  T'  T  ''''  ^°""^"  °^  Nic^'afn  the 
ChriJ:  ^;  ^^'  ^*  eloquently  stated  that  orthodox 
tha?  ts  ?on^nd''e^  contending  for  its  all.  in  maintawSg 
mlV  tZu-  u^n^-  P""  P"^*^*^t  God  and  perfecf 
S  Chri^  ,  ^'^^"  ^'^'"r^  ^^"y  the  perfect  God-head 
of  Christ,  and  maintain  instead  that  he  was  inerelv  a 

o?rra'r Vh'Vd"/^''*^  *°  '"''  like'llTets 
01  nis  race.     The  old  Arian  controversy  has  accord- 

ingly  descended  upon  the  churches  again.and  once 
^T  Ci>"ftianity  is  contending  for  its  III  ArianSm 
and  orthodox  religion  are  again  in  direct  ionfl^Jt  and 
the  battle-cry  of  St.  Athanasius  once  more  rfses 
above  a  controversial  struggle.     So  widehr  has  the 

"Slv'Tn'^EnT';"  r '°"^^^^  and  uU?sit£ 
especially  in  England,  that  comparatively  few  stu- 
dents are   now  offering    themselves  for  a  diVinhl 

Nowtharro^ldV"/"'"  ^  "°"^  condltior"^ 
XMow  that  the  Old  Testament  scriptures  are  so  oer- 

SiSthT'  '^-  ^l  *^"'gher  cSticism  Cu  t.  and 
their  truth  historically  and  religiously  called  in  Ques- 
tion, It  behooves  their  Christian  readers  to  sat"sfJ 

\nZfr  '^"*  '^^y  Y"  ^t'"  *J^«  *°^d  of  God.  It  s 
indeed  the  case,  that  these  hostile  attacks  are  largely 
based  on  mere  theoretical  assertion,  and  historical 
falsification,  as  we  have  already  show^;  but.    ?ni  the 

SieThSt''";'';.'  '^''J'  ^''^"'^  ^'ft  the  chaff  from 
the  wheat.     In  the  performance  of  this  duty  the  lav- 

1*;  *nT'  ^'?^^'  !!^^^  ^^^  assistance  of  Ws  clerS^- 
man,  to  the  extent  that  would  have  been  the  case  hid 

5tnJ:^llV  .u^'^^^'  '"  °"''  '^h°«'«  ^"<J  universities 
Students  are  thus,  as  regards  Old  Testament  exegesis 
too  much  at  the  mercy  of  the  Hebrew  specialist    and 

TLlv::rr'  '^^  '^^■•"•"^  whiSTe^ngrto 

every  true  scholar  are  too  apt  to  surrender  their  in- 
tellects to  his  teaching,  and  so  become  saturated  wth 
arguments  that  they  are  unable  to  refute      Much^vH 


I  8:1 


444    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

has  crept  into  the  churches  in  this  way.    Under  all 
the  circumstances  of  the  case,  the  orLarv  reader 
who  has  no  pretence  to  great  learning  of  Tnykfnd 
may  well  ask  the  question  how  am  f  to  dedde  as 
regards  the  truth  or  untruth  of  the  Old  Testament 

.ously.  the  truth  of  the  Old  Testament.     In  the  firft 
htt^Vt^o^r^^s^tflnt^^^^^ 

possess  the  direct  testimony  of  Christ  and  SS  a^r 
ties  as  to  the  truth  of  the  Old  Testament  scr^^tTres" 
both  as  regards  their  historical  and  reHg  ousXraC' 
ter     The  evidence  we  shall  lay  before  oJr  readers  on 

ttV^llhaJe^nr,?^^^^^^^^^^ 

thereupon  "''^  '"  '■^^''^'^fi^  *  *^"^  verdict 

We  will  now  proceed  to  examine  how  profane  his 
too^  sustams  the  Old  Testament  record  ^In  the  fiJst 
place,  the  ancient  Accadian  tablets  of  B;bylSnia  have 
their  w„«en  story  of  the  Creation  and  the  Deluge  S 
we  have  already  shown  in  chapters  x  and  xii  whir^ 
largely  corroborates  the  MoLc  narrative  OtW 
tablets  clearly  support  the  details  grvenTcenes^sx 
worfd'^andt?''^"""^'".^?^  the  ancient  nations  otSe 

«ses  'bore  .hi  '^P"^'  '•''''"•  '^^''^  *='*•««. '"  several 
cases,  bore  the  same  names  as  are  mentioned  in  the 
Bibhcal  narrative.  The  ruins  of  Erech/one  of  these 
cities,  were  discovered  by  Layard  in  18^6  The  tab! 
tZclt°^  "t^blished.  beyond  all  maJner  of  do  ibt 
that  Chedorlaomer  mentioned  in  Genesis  xiv  wS 
actually  king  of  Elam  in  the  time  ofTbraham.  and 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  EVIDENCE.      445 
that  Amraphel,  named  Hammurabi  in  the  inscrmfmnc 

Which  pr!v.d*.„Ta  bt':?i'co^,;':UThetSi 
laa*.  t,.ii  \ul-     .       y  J^VUL,  m  a  httle  Egyptian  vil- 

&hSs/ESiax''i5Ff 

of  D)T2LtyXK  we^Mm.?«r""°"'  i"Scriptio„s 

became  Wholly  free  from  Favlf-o"  *?"'*''*^^  ^yria 

ably  preLit  "Slf  ta  ?h,  f  ""'^r  T"'"  ""-J-^tion- 
there  akn      tt«^».  «•»  "icr^ea  aea,  and  his  own  death 

yn  of  the  reign  of  Ramcses  III.    They  tell  us  ofT 


0 


■i: 


.      ill 


446    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 
K^airlhrcoCm^^f  .>'■*'"  ^^y^'  '^''  '^'  Exodus ; 

self  Its  king,  and  greatiy  oppressed  the  peoole    Ram 
eses  in.  proved  himself  an  able  ruler  who  oarSX 

tlJI  f\r^  ^^"^  P?^^^*^  ^^^y-  and  she  never  after- 
wards fully  recovered  her  former  leading  position 
among  the  nations.  During  the  earlier  plrt  of  the 
reign  of  Rameses  III.  the  weakness  of  EgK?  ilited 
outside  attacks,  and  even  the  Edom  tesfj?  SeSes 
as  his  inscriptions  termed  them,  sought  to  establith 
themselves  in  the  land  of  Goshen  by  force  to  meet 
however  with  defeat.  In  this  state  ofVhin^'  we  haVe 
the  true  historical  key  to  the  fact,  that  thweTas  no 

n\^e  De^^t'o??*"-^^  "f"  ''''  -^olly  ufdttufbed 
in  tne  IJesert  of  Sinai,  and  were  afterwards  never  in 

terfered  with  during  their  conquestTf  Pa  estine  the 

t^Zlr^EUl.'f''''''  "^"V"  theva^lrand 
♦WoT    J    J    ^^P*  ^°'"  *  previous  period  of  at  least 
three  hundred  years. -from  the  reign  of  Thothmes  I 
to  the  reign  of  Meneptah  I.     So  keenly  did  the  E^n- 

h^/^T'^^^'J^^^  ^'^^«t«^«  of  the  Exodus  perfd 
that  for  hundreds  of  years  afterwards,  and  no^t  until 

fron  T  °n  ^,"^?^°^';i'  ^'d  they  again  venture  to  con- 
front the  protecting  God  of  Israel.     The  Effvptian 

lortunes ,  and  it  is  only  from  circumstantial  evidence 

dh^on  nfTh''"^"  l^-'^!!"^'  '^^'  ^«  ^an  learn  the  co„: 

in  th/Sl"^'  ""^'^^  succeeded  to  the  Exodus, 
profane  hfi    P^^^^^^f  Jewish  national  life,  wherever 
profane  history  touches  the  Biblical  narrative  it  in 
variably  sustains  that    narrative.    The  tabSs  and 
monumental  inscriptions  of  the  conquering  kLs  of 
Assyna  do  so  in  the  clearest  manne?;  a"  d^we Tarn 

tZ   OM°  t'^"'  *^"  "u^'S"  °f  Nebuchadnezzar  from 
the   Old   Testament    than    we   do  from   any  other 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  EVIDENCE.      447 

of  Abraham  toXS™"?  'i  """"  '">">  ">=  =«" 
to  Moses    to  th.P-;^H       '".^Sypt,  and  afterwards 

Canaan"  'Air  .t  eWd".".?^  olt*?  vS'uc^r,gr"  °' 

=nS'/;SiEF-^^^^^^^^    - 

after  theVaft  tf  Xirfa'l  S^t"'  ""'  "''^  '°"« 
SJ^tjrrS-d"  *  *rcL?"'c£".rshoi  .H^ 
Sf  cxc"p,S  :?  ^rZ^A^  of  Zedckiah,  with 

:f  SinAas  l£"?i^  W*«  *=  B^^ 

;:|J!;ri„Th?sarrsr  ^^"-«  --  -^^s 


448    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

pute,  and  were  afterwards  fulfilled,  or  are  still  in 
process  of  fulfilment,  the  strongest  possible   proof 
would  be  presented  that  they  were  divinely  inspired, 
and  were  therefore  the  infallible  word  of  God.    Now 
all  these  conditions  exist  in  the  present  case.    The 
Septuagint,  or  translation  by  the  Seventy  of  the  Old 
Testament,  from  the  dying  or  dead  Hebrew  language 
mto  the  living  Greek  tongue,   made  for   Ptolemy 
i'hiladelphus,  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  third  century 
B.  c,  forms  an  epoch  in  Biblical  literature,  so  clearly 
fixed  and  certain,  as  to  be  beyond  all  manner  of 
question  whatever.    The  canon  of  the  Hebrew  scrip- 
tures was  thus  definitely  determined,  and  crystallised 
mto  a  hvmg  language  then  more  widely  spoken  than 
any  other.    The  charge,  therefore,  cannot  be  made 
that  any  prophecies  were  afterwards  forged  to  bolster 
up,  m  any  direction,  either  Jewish  or  Christian  opin- 
ion.   We  must,  accordingly,  accept  the  evidence  of 
the  existence  of  the  prophetic   books  of  the  Old 
1  estament  just  as  they  stand  in  the  Septuagint.    This 
position  IS  logically  incontrovertible,  and  beyond  all 
manner  of  doubt.    Any  one   fulfilled    prophecy   is 
sufficient  to  indicate  a  prescience  more  than  human: 
but  the  collective  force  of  all  the  prophecies,  taken 
together,  is  such  that  nothing  more  can  be  necessary 
to  prove  the  interposition  of  Omniscience  than  the 
establishment  of   their  authenticity.     In  the  prov- 
iJl"u^  °^  ^J"^  *?^  Septuagint  has  fully  done  that. 
With  regard  to  the  numerous  prophecies  relative  to 
the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  in  the  Old  Testament, 
Jeir  one  great  object  is  the  redemption  of  mankind. 
This  as  soon  as  Adam's  fall  made  it  necessary,  God,  in 
his  mercy  was  at  once  pleased  to  foretell.     (Genesis 
in.  15-^     Some  of  the  prophecies  relative  to  Christ's 
advent,   sufferings,   and   death,   are  very  clear  and 
'"f"*!     S**  .  f""""  ^'^ample,  in  Micah  v.  2,  the  birth 
of  the  Messiah  at  Bethlehem  is  plainly  predicted ; 
and  the  precise  period  of  his  death,  and  the  destruc- 
tion afterwards   of  Jerusalem,  by  the   Romans,  are 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  EVIDENCE.      449 
foretold  in  Daniel  ix    9«     tu«  e 

manner,  that  the  sev..«i  «^^  '"ows,  m  the  plainest 
were  directly  inWd  bv?t^"^  "^e  °  '"^^*'  ^^^'^^ 
establishes  the  t"?th  of  the  ofn  "°'^  ^P'"*'  ^"^  *»>"» 
We  have  only  soace  for  Vht?  "'f*^'"^*  scriptures, 
of  a  few  nf  lufP    •     •     .  ®  presentation  to  the  reader 

We  wlTb°eg,?;irTy?e^hT^^^^^^       ^'^'^  ^-"^^'n 
and  the  grS?  c^mmS^f  ^  ^^^'^^^^'^^  of  Phoenicia, 

PhoeniciarshipHSed  JLT*/^  *5*^  f"'^'^"*  ^°'W 
the  coasts  i  botrsidl,  .f  1^**  and  Arabian  Seas, 
even  boldly  ventured  out  ?n.  *.k  ^f^'t^'-ranean,  and 
brmg  homeVT/^r^^^^^^^^  AUanj^c  Oc^an  to 
time  thsy  circumnavigated  the  wholVAftL  "' 

jailing  up  the  Red  sla  around  fteoS'^';  J?f  J 

cruel  aS  repulVe  c£°Ter"!Sf -f  °/  ^>T=  ^'^  "f  » 
punishme/cam?  anSr-;^^  y^^f""?"^', 

to  tte  LI     N^/rt'?  ■■"  ■''="  gtadaallyfuS 

most  of  its  older  narf     TuL      ■      ^      *'  destroyed 
used  b.  A,e.anXr"t  (ill  t'oc"o„rcf  ^1??^ 

29 


if 


11; 


ii 


f     '  A 


450    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

the  island  on  which  the  newer  city  stood,  and  he  was 
thus  enabled  to  accomph'sh  its  capture.  The  rise 
of  Alexandria  soon  deprived  Tyre  of  much  of  its 
commerce  and  maritime  importance ;  and  a  gradual 
state  of  decay  commenced.  It  was  afterwards  repeat- 
edly taken  and  retaken  during  the  Crusades  and 
other  Mohammedan  wars,  until  it  finally  became  the 
heap  of  ruins  that  it  is  to-day.  During  the  cariier 
part  of  the  past  century  a  poor  fishing  village  marked 
a  part  of  its  site,  the  inhabitants  of  which  dried  their 
fishing  nets  amid  the  ruins.  This  village  has  since 
expanded  into  a  small  town  named  Sur,  the  limited 
trade  of  which  is  carried  on  wi  h  difficulty,  the 
ancient  harbour  having  become  entirely  choked  up 
with  ruins  and  the  action  of  the  sea.  Thus  the 
prophecy  of  Ezekiel  has  been  in  part  fulfilled,  while 
another  part  is  still  in  process  of  fulfilment. 

Egypt  was  atone  time  the  most  powerful  of  all 
tj?«  ancient  kingdoms  of  the  worid.  During  Dynasties 
XVIII.  and  XIX.,  both  concurrent  in  whole  or  in 
part  with  the  period  of  the  Hebrew  Sojourn,  it 
ascended  to  the  highest  point  of  its  grandeur  and 
authority;  with  a  population  which  has  been  esti- 
mated at  seventeen  millions.^  Egypt  indulged  in 
the  grossest  forms  of  idolatry,  especially  as  regarded 
a  debasing  animal  worship.  In  the  day  of  her 
prosperity  she  grossly  abused  her  power,  and,  with 
the  aid  of  a  large  standing  army,  plundered,  without 
compunction,  weaker  nations  of  their  industrial  ac- 
cumulations. God,  accordingly,  in  her  case,  also 
determined  that  national  sins  should  bring  down 
national  punishments;  and  588  years  B.C.,  inspired 
the  prophet  Ezekiel,  as  well  as  other  prophets,  to 
pronounce  judgment  against  her.  She  was  to 
become  the  basest  of  kingdoms  (Ezekiel  xxix.  15)  ; 
and  a  native  prince  or  ruler  was  to  no  more  arise  out 

.1,1  Ju  the  earlier  part  of  the  past  century  the  population  had 
shrunk  to  five  millions.  It  is  now,  thanks  to  renewed  prosperity 
under  British  control,  nearly  double  that  number 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  EVIDENCE.      45, 

wa«  «..,K«!,       .1         "  process  of  fu  fi  ment.     Eevnt 
Empire  o    AlexanS^h.  cTT  \P*'^  ""^'^^  ^reelc 

while  the  BriSS    are  now  t  ^V'^"'  "  *  'T^''^*; 
country.     Under  their  benSn    '*"*'   Tu*"*""  ^^  t***^ 

State,  with  a  lar~  «f=.«i-  essentially  a  military 

subdued.  In  the  case  of  r^S  "*  Pfoples  he 
refusal  to  pay  the  uLal  trihfi  °".v,"P^*='>"y'  ="d 
inflicted    w?re  of   the  .r„i7  ?*'  ?^  P"n'shments 

descnptionrmen^JSre   Javlf  ,r"*^   '"°'*    **^'"b'^ 

peopl.  a^  ^^^--aTaJd^^^^^^^^^ 

with  the  most  intense  and  general  <,^tLfZi^        t 

!^*  ;«'„:*  rf„fh?apTo'fr„fthr'*"°"°'^ 

The  pun,shm.„,  of  Babylon  for  to  Snal  „•„, 


I'f 


i  i 


11 


i-f 


45a    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

thelcing  of  Babylon Td  Sf  „!?•*  ^'"^  ^"'^  ?""»'» 

desolation.  In  chapter  lo^!^^?  *^'  ?  perpetual 
nations  (the  Medif.  anH  p.  •  '"O'?*'^"  by  northern 
v#.r«.  ,B  «ieaes  and  Persians)  is  predicted  A* 
verse  38  we  are  to  d  that  a  drn..»i,f   •  .    * 

waters  and  they  shall  be  dried  un  f^  ,,"  "P^"  ^«" 
turning  of  the^course  of  ?he  Euphrates  bvr  *°  *^' 
order   to  enable  hiQ  arJ..  *      ^  ""*  °y  Cy'»»  >n 

Verse  46  sfA'VtheS^  o?thTtaki  ^of  Bat^^^" 
the  earth  is  moved,  and  the  crv  .!  lf«?J  ^'^  Babylon 
nations."  Chapter  licontLin.?!  "*^  *'"°"S  **»« 
against  Babylon  At  ve?s«  ^/"'""°"' .^'^^'^^t'^"* 
will  be  punished  for  th/  ?"*  u*  f'*  *°'*^  ^^^t  she 
Hebrew  Sn  Verse  %8  1'?''  ¥  **°"*^  *°  the 
and  other  nations  wil?  atfa.k  h?'  ?/*  ^^'^  ^«d« 
"And  Babylon  shaUbecnm?!,'''    ^!"*'  37  states, 

nis  princes,  on  the  dav  h*r»>.  u*   j     f**=*»nazzar  and 
in  verses  39.  57     VeJfe  e/ntS"."^!?^'  "  P'^^^'^^^ed 

would  make  the  lan?=«  '^  ^^^  f'^  *°'^  t*»at  God 
pools  o?  water  and  tha?*!^'''?'?  ^^'  *^^  ^'««r"  ^d 
besom  of  destr'uSfon  WheT  ttes^'  '^T  ^'^'^  ^''^ 
spoken  Babylonia  was  still  n^.f!uP'°P''^*='^^  "^^^^ 
tive  and  fert  le  coTntwll  °  °^  *''*'  """^^  P^oduc 
Nile,  the  surplus  wafers  of  Z  f""'^""""'  ^''^^  ^^^^ 
up  in  lakes  ffi  grea?  cl.^ds  fo?^hi''  ""'''  ''""'^ 
'ligation;    and    tL    wh^^^cottr^^^vXp^l  ^Z 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  EVIDENCE.      453 

luxuriant  vegetation     Now  .11  :»- 
•ystem  is  in  a  state  of  uf7.        •  **  *"!!"  ^*«*  ""^1 
in  its  annual  flood  tirn^n"!?'"'    *?«  Euphrates, 
everyrdirectro„.a„d   iT^^K^'^^^^^  '^^"nt'y  in 

the  5elta  of  tJ;  rhfer     T^f,!';? 'J  °^  t^''  »"*  '"^*'^« 
and  sour   wid/mJlu  '°"  ***"  become  boffev 

while  1;  desolTte  rufnfor'  ''?  '"  »"*  '^^'^"^ 
«hape  of  huge  heaos  or  1  "'!?""*  "'*'"•  '"  «»« 
above  the  la^ndscape  ••  aJ  far '«/r. '^*'*''  "»« 
reach,"  says  CaoSn  if.  •  "  *''*  «ye  could 
••  the 'horizon  pre?entedf''h^'  T^*'"  »"^«"«. 
the  whole  of  tL  pUce    *  ''^^Z"  ^"!.  °f  "'ound^' 

vegetation  was  a  pJ^klvsSuS  ?vT  ^**'  ^^'^  °"'y 
the  plain,  and  sSme  LJch"  S'^  ^  "*"*l'*^  °^*' 
water  had  lodged  in  S?«u  ®^  ^'^  ^'»«''«  the 
flocks  of  biSs  ••  liv?rH  °"J'P  -M  '^y  •"""«"« 
travellers,  also  bear  ^ness  'to  "tt**'"  ?°''  •-""' 
same  state  of  things  '  'J,  we  t\  thlV^r  °^  *i' 
ecies  against  Babylonia  ;e  sdll  ?n  tJ^  *^'  P'^P**" 
of  fulfilment,  and  still  bear  wftn'"  £  ^'  '°  P'^"" 

and  generation,  to  S^^=  tJ^th  o?  t";  0^"^^^  *^'^ 
scriptures.  '"*  ^'°  Testament 

great  empire  founded  hv  Au       J  ^^'  '"°^  ^^^^  the 
for  a  yearXrS:;TssrgKe'd«retyr'-|f 


454    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

that  •»  the  end  of  threescore  and  two  weelci,  or  434 
yean,  the  Messiah  should  be  cut  off  but  not  for  him- 
SIk  1"  i''"P*«^  "•  33,  40,  43.  Daniel  in  interpreting 
Nebuchadnezzar's  dream  tells  of  the  rise  of  the  Roman 
Empire.  At  verses  41  and  42  its  final  destruction  is 
foretold,  and  lU  breaking  up  into  ten  kingdoms,  de- 
noted by  the  ten  toes  of  the  image  seen  by  the  kine 

nl^Wfllaf'-f*'?':    ^*'?*n  ^.*"'*  ^5  predict  that  these 
political  divisions  shall  endure  until  the  kingdom  of 
the  Messiah  shall  come,  which  shall  stand  forever. 
Thus  we  see  that  the  prophecies  of  Daniel  cover  a 
period,  lasting  from  shortly  after  his  own  day  to  the 
second  coming  of  the  Messiah,  and  the  end  of  the 
world.    Under  i^ll  these  circumstances  it  is  only  rea- 
sonable  to  expect  that  the  Book  of  Daniel  should  be 
made  the  subject  of  the  widest  discussion,  and  give 
me  to  much  difference  of  opinion.    In  this  discussion 
Sir  Isaac  Newton,  and  various  eminent  bishops  of  the 
Church  of  England,  have  taken  a  part    The  eminent 
iJr  Horne  devotes  considerable  space,  in  his  "Intro- 
duction to  the  Critical  Study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  " 

Cuiri.H"K^n -^^  '^^^nl^^'  P""^  "'gher  Criticism 
Cult,  led  by  Driver  and  Cheyne,«  as  a  matter  of  course, 
involve  It  in  all  manner  of  doubt ;  and  it  is  attempted 
to  show  that  It  was  not  written  by  Daniel  during  the 
Captivity,  but  by  some  one  else  at  a  much  later  period, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  a  few  musical  instruments  men- 
tioned therein  have  Greek  names.  Some  critics  as- 
fu  J  composition  to  as  late  a  period  as  the  time  of 
the  Maccabees  (176  to  135  years  B.  c).  But  the  lat- 
ter supposition  is  flatly  contradicted  by  the  fact,  that 
the  Book  of  Daniel  appears  in  the  Septuagint  trans- 

P??".T*?  ^^f^i'  "^^^^  **"""S  ^^^  ""^gn  of  Ptolemy 
Philadelphus  (285  to  247  years  B.  c).  Driver's  con- 
tention as  to  the  Greek  names  of  three  musical  instru- 
ments proving  that  Daniel  was  written  at  a  later  period 
than  the  Captivity,  has  not  a  whit  more  value  than  the 

>  Horne't  Introduction,  Vol.  II.  p.  277 

«  See  articles  on  Daniel,  Ency.  Brit,  and  Ency.  Biblica 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  EVIDENCE.      455 

thi'  ?"'"'"•  "  "'""'"S  to  th.  Prince  of  Tyre  11^ 
prince  would  be  P-nished  l?L%'XS. 'Y^ 


I    ill 


456    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE 
mains  to  be  fulfilled     Jntwfrln J     "*  ^  P^*?  ^^^  «■«- 

must  of  necessity  know  all  fhJn^e  T  *'"**^"  ^°°  "« 
come-  and  hUbl,^   i^  "S^'  P^st,  present  and  to 

come,  and  his  knowledge  was,  accordinfflv  infallihU 
and  m  no  wise  liable  to  error  of  anvS     i  ' 

feet  man  he  was  absoluteirwithout^in  "  Evet^  ^^i 
Christian  must,  therefore,  accept  his  testimonyTas^a 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  EVIDENCE       4- 

S^Sjr^Jrg^^^'l^^^exact  truth;  a^^^s 
If  we  reject  that  tesSmon?' *'*''''.  ^^  ^"^ '^""ipt.on. 

and  theieh-gion  as  Swhlr/'f '^  ^''"^^'f. 

ject  the  truth  of  the  olS  t  ^^  '^°""'^^'^-  '^^^  re- 
which  on  nume?ou  occa  fon^'ie  b'"*  ?5"Pt"res.  to 
we  must  also  reiect  Ih^  t,  *u  r  ^°'"*  ^""^^t  witness, 
the  second  L  nf  the  foScit  ""^  *^?  ^"^  Testament 
ment  of  the  fi?st  In  fh?r  ""^'^T"'  ^"^  ^"'^1' 
•"ent  is  quoted  or  referred  ?P'''  '^^  °'^  "T"*^" 
Acts  and  the  Epistles  /ffif"^  °  1.92  times:  in  the 
400  times.     Thesf  fieVres  ,1^''  'r,'"  ^'l"  Apocalypse 

and  his  apostles  refe  to  ?he  Old  W^  ^'^"^^ 
support  of  the  tru-h  ^f  »u  •  *-''°   Testament    n 

being  the  best  oLibl.    ^'"'  ^  ^^^^'^'^S'  ^"^  as 
in  the  premfses^  ^'^^^  ^'^^J'  could%roduce 

cdt^^^i^'^^efTrgTo'r;^'*^^^^^ 

Wellhausen  and  Chfyne  that'':,?^ '^^^  .conclusion   of 
legend,  maintain  thaUts  first  nL?T'\  "  ""^^^  ^"^ 
the  period  from  the  Cr.I?     ^  chapters,  covering 
"merely  a  relSsalle^orvn"   *°  ^^^Deluge.  forn! 
not  be  held  to  brvSl^M/.  '"^''^l  ^^''^"'  ^"^  <=«"- 
our   Blessed    L^rd    savi   ^h?7\uH"'  ^^«  ^^at 
Things.     The  Sut  oTof  the  sabb..?'^'""'"^   °^ 
with  theCreation,and  maybe  saM  .   l"^^"  *=°^^^' 
't.     "The  sabbath."  saidThrist  "  was°  ,H  %P""  °^ 
and  not  man  for  the  sabbath     Vt.r"'^'^®  ^°'"  ""^n 
Man  is  Lord  also  of  th7.  kk  J^^'^^°'^  ^^^  Son  of 
Alludingto  the  oridnarn'f  ^*''-      ^-^^'^  "'  27-28.) 
Christ  tills  us  ..  Buffrom   S'A''"^-^*'^"^  °^*h«  ^^^^« 
tjonGod  made  them  mrand%emT'"lo°r  t?^  "^^- 
shall  a  man  leave  his  father  nn^.u^*^ '^'^  *=^"se 
unto  his  wife."  (Mark  v  6  7  ^     tu"'°*^1'"  ^"deleave 

the  clearest  evideS^  o^th^^fLt  o^Thf  ^"^?"PP''^^ 
also  of  the  mirar..lm,l  n  '?ct  of  the  creation  and 
Luke  xi  5 1  he  be°?  ^f^'^^'ng  of  Things."  In 
^'^^i^fnlJw^^^^^  to  the  truth%f  the 

Deluge,  b.  oiting^^:re\crth^-rer  ^Vb^^l 


':* 


458     THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

IhlS^'l'  ^'  ^'''^?  "!  '"  ^^"^"'^  »^-  8-    The  story  of 
the  Deluge  or  Flood,  and  the  preservation  of  Noah, 
are  also  accepted  by  Christ  as  literal  facts.    ( Luke 
XVII.  26.  27.)     Christ  makes  numerous  references  to 
Abraham  as  may  be  learned  from  the  several  Gospels : 
and  in  Luke  xiii.  28  speaks  of  Abraham,  Isaac" and 
Jacob,  as  having  been  living  personalities,  and  not 
K!f*iI"^S-''u     "S^.*»°"3    of    imagination    described 
by  the  Higher  Critics.    Christ  also  alludes  to  the 
miraculous  destruction  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  as 
described  m  Genesis  xix..  and  in  Luke  xii.  32  bids 
us  to  remernber  the  fate  of  Lot's  wife,  showing  that 
her  tragical  death,  and  punishment  for  disobedience, 
were  actual  facts.     If  we  believe  Christ  we  must  ac- 
cordingly believq  that  the  narrative  in  the  Book  df 
Genesis  of  the  Creation,  and  the  events  following  it, 
was  the  truth.     Christ  makes  numerous  allusions  to 
events  described  in  the  Book  of  Exodus,  showing  that 
he  also  accepted  it  as  true  histoiy.     The  incident  of 
Moses  and  the  burning  bush,  recorded  in  Exodus  iii. 
2,  3,  are  alluded  to  by  Christ  in  Luke  xx.  37,  38. 
S^KP  i^  "'u'  ?^   following  remarkable  language 
establishing  the  facts  of  a  resurrection,  and  the  real 
personality  of  the  patriarchs  of  Genesis:  "  Now  that 
the  dead  are  raised  even  Moses  showed  at  the  bush, 
when  he  calleth  the  Lord  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  the 
God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob,  for  he  is  not  a 
God  of  the  dead  but  of  the  living."     The  miraculous 
giving  of  manna  to  the  Israelites  in  the  desert,  as 
described  in  Exodus  xvi.,  is  alluded  to  by  Christ  in 
John  VI.  31,  where  he  says,  "  Our  fathers  did  eat 
manna  in  the  desert;  as  it  is  written,  He  gave  them 
bread  from  heaven  to  eat."     Christ  also  makes  vari- 
ous  allusions  to  laws  given  in  Exodus  for  the  guidance 
of  the  Israelites.    (Matthew  v.  21,  27,  xix.  19.)    The 
historical  truth  of  the  Book  of  Leviticus  is  sustained 
in  the  same  way :  see  John  vii.  22,  Luke  ii.  22,  24.  xvii 
14,  Matthew  viii.  4,  John  viii.  5,  Matthew  xiii.  3.  4" 
In  Numbers  xxi.8,9,  we  are  told  about  God  directing 


§ 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  EVIDENCE.      459 

looked  upon  it  mighf  beT...  i"^"^''>'  ^^^P^"ts  and 
figuring  fis  death  ?pon  the  c  OSS  .1?"/  ^""'°"''  P^^' 
dent  in  John  iii.  14  S,d  i"-  i  ^  ^^  *"  ^'"'^  •"^•- 
up  the  'serpen    in  the  S  "''  *^**  "^«  Moses  hfted 

Sonof„,an^benftedu;.'^''The"Bo;rrV°  ™"^*  ^^e 
IS  frequently  quoted  by  Christ  ^T°°^°r^«"t«ononiy 
3.  we  find  Moses  telhn^Vhrr  ."  ^^^teronomy  viii. 
make  thee  know  that  m»^  Israehtes  "  that  he  might 
but  by  every  word  thJ  °*5  "°*  ''^^  ^y  bread  S 
the  Lird  dSh  man  te^^J^^^^^^^^ 

that  when  Christ  wis  temot.S^l^'fr  '^-  4  ^e  learn 
wilderness,  and  chaHeng^dTytim^n  ^^  ^"^J?  '"  ^^^^ 
by  making  bread  from  fton^f  u      ^V'^^^  ^'^  power 
ble  answe?,  "  It  is  wrL!   m  '  HT^^  *^«  memora- 
alone  but  by  ev^ry  word 'tJIf  n  ^'"  "?'  [^^^  ^^^read 
mouth  of  God."     in  Deuteronr°"^-^'*'^  °"*  °^  the 
the  Israelites  "  Ye  shall  nn!f°'"l'  ""•  ^^  Moses  tells 
When  the  devil  shift^"^^^^  ^^^^^""^  ^^^ 
to  cast  himself  down  from  ;«'  ^"^ .^^^P^d  Jesus 
prove  himself  the  Son  of  roi""T'^'  '"  °''^^'  '^ 
charged   to  keep  hfrn  safely  I'ps^at''  ""^^'^  ''''' 
Moses  is  again  Tptly  Quoted      "if       '"^'-   "'   ^2.) 
said  Christ,  ••  Thou  sha?tnnfl     V^' '%«'"tten  again." 
In  Matthe^  v.  2 rDeuteronn-'"^    ^  *^^  ^°^'" 

Christ  as  to  the  W  divHrT^  ''''"':  ^'  '^  <l"oted  by 
Deuteronomy  xviH    i  f  I  "T "i '  '"  ^««hew  v.  33. 

Numerous  o^^er  quo  a^iiL^from  if  1°  P^^^^^«°"' 
also  made  by  Christ  ShVu      ^  Deuteronomy  are 

with  the  aiS^f  aTy  ^00?°^  '^f'''  ""  ^^fc*-  *« 
clearly  the  divinehT  ifsot.H  .^  °''*^^"'^'  establishing 
and  that  it  was  not  ?hJ  k     ^^^^''acter  of  the  bookt 

Driver  and  h  s  nther  Crklf^''^''^  ^^^^"^^^^  "^V 
true  historical  ch"rLcter  of  th'.  k*"  ^««°<='ates.  The 
vouched  for  by  Chrht  ,„  ilr  1?°'^''^  of  Samuel  are 
well  as  the  boTks  of  k  '  s  Sfv  all'"^  """•  ^'  ^'  34;  as 
of  Sheba.  (Matthew  xf  7^  w"°5?..*°^^^Q"een 
drought,  (Luke  iv  20  tofh^  to  Elijah  and  the 
'V.  25.)  to  the  widow  of  Sarepta, 


A 

u 

i 


If 


i  li 


» 


460    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

Syn-al  \^i  t:%1  '^l.}}f^-S  of  Naaman.  the 

Critics  have  mZhtL^"^a^Z''t^^ 

veracity  of  the  books  of  ChrS      u'  cl^aracter  for 

also  volaches  for  S  hloricTatcur^l  ^     ^'"'?"'' 
from  2  Chronicles  xv  91   ;^      accuracy,  by  quot  ng 

the  prophet  ZatS^^CThtrxlif^.Ttn^  ^^ 

and  of  the  Sles  reJorded"S  °^-^^-  ^.°°^  °f  J°"^h 
by  Christ.  (Mat  heHf  !o  .f"?'"'!'' /?">'  ^^^^P^^ 
15  he  testifies  as  to  ^h/  '  ^^'^  ^"  Matthew  xxiv. 
Daniel.      '  S^e^ye  the^efn?"^  ^ii  °^  ^^'^  B°°k  of 

tion  of  d«olat^?nfLoke„  of  K    i  '^^*^*^  ^''°'"'"^- 
stand  in  the  ho^&ace.'in^^^^"'^!  .the  prophet. 

jep..sencs  Abrahanf''^'-sayL"  ^l*?;  S'  ^i'  ^^^'^' 
Moses  and   the   nrnr^C^  S"*ying     If  they  hear  not 

suadcd  thoVt;/;:?itror.he"  rji'..*'/  "^  'T 
the  memorable  iournev  to  b-«.  ,  ;      -^^  regards 

two  of  his  dscK  TfterSi^  -2  •      ^^'''^"'^"^ 

27. 44.  describes  some  o?^^^^^^  ^"'^^  ^'^iv. 

"And  beginning  arMosesa^dT^r"'^''^:!  ''°''^■ 
expounded  unto  them  ?n  all  S,  -^^  Prophets,  he 
concerning  himse  f  AnH  i  •^''"P*''''"  ^^e  things 
are  the  word"  Sh  I  ,  "1  ^^'^  ""'°  ^^em.  Thele 
with  you  that  an  thJn  ^^^  "?'°  y°"  "^^ile  I  was  yet 
writte^rn  Se^law  TUsTln^'-T'^  "^''^'^  -"« 

"  Th4rt%h*a't^  I^^reSoTert^o^j'^Je  J^"^"^l^' 
r-ophets:    I  am  not  com^  fo  ^   1^  *^* '*""  o""  the 

•or  verily  I  say  unto  you  Tilh  '^  ?"*  *°  ^"'^'• 
one  jot,  or  one  titt"e  shall  S  nrf*'''"  "*^  ^^'^'^  P^««' 
law  till  all  be  fulfil  ed"  No  «*  "^"^  P^'  ^''^'n  *« 
the  truth  of  the  Mosaic  law  anH°.S^""  ^^^'''"^"y  as  to 
inspired  character  of  the  OH  T.^'^P^'^*'' ^"^  the 
than  that  given  by  Chr  st .',  00  T"tament  scriptures. 
The  Higher  Critic,  r.n      i  P°^^'**'^  to  be  produced 

that  tesffmony  b^dTr^cSv^Hr  •'  '^-^  '««"«  raised  in 
ny,  oy  directly  denying  its  truth,  and  by 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  EVIDENCE.     ,6. 

and  regard  them  in  the  fS  1  "*^'"*'"*  scriptures, 
foundation  of  the  NewlJi    ?*  .^^°'*'  «  «"«  great 

founded   by  the   ReTe^mer  °  Vj^r'^',^^^^^^^^ 
came  death,"  said  the  Aro«rt.  p^°^  *'""  by  man 
XV.  21.  22,  "by  man  ^P,,^  ^?u  '"  '  Corinthians 
the  dead.    For^asTn  AdS^  S^J^""  resurrection  of 
shall  all  be  ma?e  alive -.fm^',!. '.^ ''^ '" 
Amen,  the  faithful  and  tme  w.W      ♦?'"P  "^'^^  ^^e 
the  creation  of  God."    (RevTl  "S  -  *"  '^t^'"'"'"g  °f 
thew  xxi.  5.  a  reference  it        J  °"  "t  '^'^     ^n  Mat- 
as  showing  the  SaWourl  I-       I'?  Zechariah  ix.  9. 
salem;  an^d  thos^T.taZ'i^''il^^^^^^^ 
x>.  12,  13,  a  reference  fn  il/    •        r.    '"  Zechariah 
thew  xxvii.  9)  Tjohn  /J'-'*'°^x'*'*"y^'-    (Mat- 
xxii.  18.  a  prophecy  of  the  Sm^  ^^.^  '^"  '"   Psalm 
the  Saviour's  /armente  •  aLl ''"   '^*'"S:  lots  for 
same  Psalm,  a  prophecy'  of  th.  n'*"-'  '^'J^'  ^^  '^e 
iour's  side.     In  the  dlrecnL       P'*"""'iS  of  the  Sav- 
lamb.  that  "a  bone  oS  Ji,  .1  ""^^i^^  '^*=  Paschal 
John  Cxix.  36)  sees  the  L?^^/°'.  *'*^  brokJn,"  St. 
fact  of  the  crucifixion      On  flf'T"^  ?^  ^"  ^<=t"al 
when  the  apostles  we?e  all  ?S  ^^^-  "tK.  °^  Pentecost. 
St.  Peter  havin?  referred  to  ^r'^  T^  *^  "°'y  Ghost 
the  outpouring  ?f  Sle  Splri?  ii^H  "f  ^?'I'  f°^«te"'ng 
hearers  that  Psalm  x^JP  '  V"  Ik  'f  J  ''*>''•  *^"^  ^il 
the  resurrection  of  Chr  st    and   p"*.^  ^''^P^^'^y  «f 
ascension.    The  eternal  hllh       •     f^'"   *'''•   '^^  ^'s 
cended  Christ  is  em^hi«^S  P"<^sthood  of  the  as- 
to  the  Hebrews,  and  gsatmi^^  .*^"Sht  in  the  Epistle 
of  that  teaching   fn  the  ve  Je^-'VT"^'  ""  *^*^  ^^« 

forever  after  the  order  of  MeSzed^w"  ¥^  V"*^''' 
narrative  of  the  fall  of  man  and  th^^      ^^^  ^°'^'<= 


i 


463    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

prophets.    Every^    reader   of  tht  v"*^'"^  ^'^^  t^e 
kno^vs  how  it  frequently  SL  ?/    ^''T   Testament 
Abraham.   Isaac,  and  Jacob      if°'l  *^*  "^'"es  of 
recalls  the  stor^  of  AbrStL  f^^^^*'".  eloquently 
(Acts  vii.  2.)    St.  Paul  in  P      *^  *"  *''«°l"te  fact 
}3"s  iv.  22.'  dwdls   oV"th^S::S  "r^i,^"^  Gala- 
Ishmael,  and  on  the  choice  of  thl^  ""^   ^^S^'^  and 
That  Abraham  was  justified  h?f  ^.t"?'^"  *°"  ^^aac. 
the  Epistle  to  the   Sans  \tV'  ^  ^*^>'"°t«  of 
was  touched  upoa  lovS  by  ^  1:/*T  ^^  J^'^Ph 
'ghtly  over  Ismc  and  Ja?ob  L  r  ^**'P'^«n-    Passing 
•ng  of  Joseph  into  Eitntian   K  "f  ■■'  °^*^''  *^*^  ^*="- 
protection  which  afteSs  guarded  T' r*^'^  ^'^•"<^ 
delivery  from  prison,  his  exS[nn  k  ^"/°rtunes.  his 
the  second  person    n  his  realm    l^  ^^^^^'^  to  be 
Egypt,  and   the  wonderfni         '  ^"  ^'^«  rule  over 
To  St.  Stephen  thrwhoie  if  th^-  ^^'^^^   ^°"°^<^d! 
stoiy  is  presented  in  the  Ut  of  thi^^ff "«  ^"""^ 
God's  Word.    What  a  toufhint      I  ^'''^'"'^  t^"th  of 
js  also  that  of  Moses      HU  .^  ^nd  wonderful  story 
bulrushes,  where  he  was  hrfJ*"'?*  ^'■°™  '^^  ^rk  2f 
decreed   for  the   Hebrew  male"  ?vS'^P\*^^  ^"th 
His  adoption  by  Pharl^K'    I      fh'ldren  by  Seti  I 
of  Rameses  II.    then  «      '  daughter,  the  half  sister 
Egypt;  his  foVye"ar:'S^;"J?.;,.h'«  %ht  fSm 
call  at  the  buming^bush^  Ws  ^etJ^'^l'^ii  *^*^  ^'^'"e 
Jjs  great  enemy  Rameses  II  h?]"  '°  ^e^P'  ^^ere 
h.s  eminent  career  ^^cmids^t'^T^y^''^^^''  «"<» 
torical  panorama  that  the  InnT  ?^  ^'■*^^*«t  his- 
ever  produced.    In  i  Corinfif-  ^^  °^  mankind  have 
to  some  of  the  most  striff 'S"  V  ^l'  ^^"'  ^^^ 
age,  and  adds  the  Sh£  "'*''*^^"**  ^^  the  Mosaic 
written  for  our  admn!!v^  *^  comment.  "  They  are 
the  world  a?e  co^T""'''°"  "P°"  ^^o-"  the  e?dsTf 

wntUro?th:lrT:S/°:  "if  ^°  ^-y'  that  all  the 
-h  of  the  hiJi^wSrS  fft"e^^/?SeS 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  EVIDENCE.     463 

pio'nTm.^  Zy  wire  ilf?'  "k^°,'^  °^  J^-'-^ 
Divine  inspiration  onL  nr!,  u'!"  ^.*"^^^"  '«  the 
Paul  addressed  the  orinSnSr  f '*^*"=   ^^°^-      When 
suaded  them  concefnnfT   •^*'?  **  ^^ome.  he  per- 
of  Moses  and  ouj  of  the^^ro'nS^^r''  °"'  °^  ^''^  ^^^^ 
evening.      Thus    we  see    th??    k  ^'^.T  '"°'""'"&  *'" 
scriptures  from  thrfirst  Jncr.  ?!  9'^    Testament 
apostle's  teacLf  an?of^?'*"*'^.*^^  ^^'^  of  the 
ameliorating  thelilleS  coL  l^'^r'^*^'^"'  '"<=«=««  '*" 
reject  the  Old  Testament  ?"  °/  mankind.     If  we 
bodied  in  the  NerouTfi,!..'"-"'\°^,*^'*='»  «  <=«"- 
necessity  be  seriously  disS^td"    Th^-""''  '""^^  °^ 
imaginary  danger     We  rl„     ?'     ^^"  "  "°  "merely 
ment  tlSt  the  f„  y  result  oJIhe  S?'"^«'"  f°^  a  mo- 
regards  the  New  SmenI  i^-ii^i^^^''  Criticism  as 
historical  errors  in  oS  ,h'"   ^«  to  correct  the 
doing  so  we  would  ien^Jeth.f    f  ^2'"^*  f^"'  f°«-  '" 
of  histoiy  called  in  m.^?f  ^  ^'*?'  *hat  on  the  points 
itself  is^um  up     ^hTcr^^f  ^°^P^J  *^«^hing 
fact  that  "  Moseys  wrote  of  m/"  ..'*"»•'  ?"  ^•^*°"'<=«' 
of  Driver  would  answer  that^!'l,  5^  ."'^i'^'"  ^"ticism 
laid   aside  his  ofvTne  kno^,^  /'^^''■^^^>'^°J"ntarily 
made  a  statemenT  whirl,         '^^^S^'  ^"**  accordingly 
aware  of  the  ?act     wJll^'  "°'  *''"^'  ^'thout  being 
answer  thafas  cLst  wis  '"nf"  '"^  ^^^>'"«  *°"ld 
destitute  of  Divine  SfSiC^^-^  mere  man,  and  so 
made  a  mere  hLman  „  ^k?in\f  ^  ^°7'  ^^  ^*^ 
wrote  of  him,  as  he  had  in  no-  .  TJ"^  *''**  ^oses 
anything  of  ihV  Idnd      ff  o^    "'  °^  ^^*=*'  "^^^r  done 
has  deeply  sunk  into  iheLart^s  of  Ch  -'"/^l  Gospels 
for  the  past  nineteen   hS^  ^*'"^*'*"  helievers, 

which  th?LastTpperiLs  so  !nl/'^^^^  V'  '^^'  '" 
ingly  instituted.  wiSi  theTnl!^..-  ""'^'/"^  ^°  touch- 
looking  through  he  longS°o7 S'lu^' r""'"'' 
Yet  advanced  Higher  CritiS.m  J  ^^^  ^^^"  ^g«- 
put  its  sacrilegiouf  hands  upon  that'ml^'t^^  *° 
currence.  and  tells  us  thai^he  i  L?T°'"*'''*'  °*=- 
simply  a  thing  dreamt  o?  by  St   Pau    fnT''  ^^ 

"/  01.  raui   m   a  vision, 


464    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

in  support  oFZ%S^Z;i'"7uf^^-'''^'  f«'»'fi« 
never  for  a  momeSt  forge  "fhat  ChW,?;""!"  '*l°"'* 
plainly  that  the  Law  ff  Mo!!  "*.***'  taught  uj 
direct  inspiration  oj  God  a^StLi^'''''^..''''^'"  *^' 
spite  what  any  human  idea?  abo??'/'''^''^'"^'^'  **«^- 

no  element  of  fraud  orTm^ostu"e  ian'iS"  "^^  '»*^' 
Believing  firmly  that  ThrJaf .  ?*"  belong  to  it. 

hold  thaf  noS^'UnXS^^^^^^^^  ?.°^'  ^«  *""«' 
with  his  teaching^  Whi^we  Ir.  f,  "^  *^^*  ~"fi'<=^ 
tian  men,  to  accept  the  fuIU.?  r  ^f'^Pu*'"*'^'  ^  Chris- 
judicious  criticism  can  thi  ''^^'  ^^""^  honest  and 
Testament  sSres  or  tirv"^^"  ^•*''*^^  ^^^  Old 
paredtoaccep  ?heJoc?rinesof»K'''  ''^^'■*^  "°'  P^*^' 
essay  to  giv?  usTSc^i^^dnTri  T*'"  ^^'^  ""^ 
emasculated  New  Tes!lm-«V      j"  ,   Testament,  an 

The  reader  mlnolhTw"''  ^""^I  ^^"'''Je  Chris  .» 
question,  whet?e'yr„Tiew  fcl^A^!^,^^ 
the  Bible  has  of  recent  years  1^^;  ^°k  ''*^  "•*'*='^'n 
can  still  be  received  wS  ^h!!    T.^^  ^"hjected  to.  it 
accorded  to  it  i7the  oast     wf  "•u''  ^"'^  '''"?'«  '"^'th 
tion  by  a  fact  withSf  o''u?;wn'^exScr  ?''  T'' 
a  year  and  a  half  the  writer  h«  I      "•,    ^°'"  ^''ont 
engaged  in  the  comoosi^on  nf  f^  '^f^"  almost  solely 
ing  the  widely  nec^ssari^rj  1"  ^°^^'  *"^  »"  niak- 
researches   lay  chfeflt^ '^f^^'^.^^  *^^''^f°''-    These 
who.  in  one  form  or  ano?rr  !,  *^'  ^'^'"'^^  °^  ^"^^ors 
tileto  the  Bible     Affircl-Vru^  *"°''«  or  less  hos- 
of  these  authors  and  tS  ''^^^  '^^  ?'-guments  of  some 
sented  their  facts  or  r^^  '"^""^''  '"  ""^'^^  they  pre- 
a  little  doTbt  if  the  wlel^''"?T'^J^^     ^«««d  not 
aminationof  the  evkl^nce  n,o!?'     :»   ^""J  ^  "^°^^'-  «' 
ful  analysis  of  tLTrtumL^/c  •  'It^'"'  ^""^  ^  '"^^'^  ^^re- 
the  writer  to  see  whafa  no.    '"  t'^^Premises.  enabled 
all.  and  instead  of  hsoK?tri„*r^^"^^  °"*  ^'^^ 
weakened  it  is  now  ItrtyfLn"  f^^^^^ 


CONCLUSION. 


in  which  K'p?e'eKS:'  '°  ^°P*  *^«t  ^'  ^  -V 
Bible,  which  has^doTe  sf  m  J,Vr  '^^  ?.*^  ««"-'  old 
strengthen  the  faith  of  JiTeai^*."'*".'''''^'  ^^'M  al»o 

It  ought  alwavq  tr.  K.      '**°««  therein, 
be  soJcthS^%l^,^'^^;j;^rcd  that  there  should 

Bible,  than  mere  hum?n   S  *5^  ^T'^  °f  "»? 
have  a  firm  faith  in  tha?  tJJJr    u  ^^*S°"'d  also 

apostle  in  Hebrews  xi.  I  5  ''utu.  T^'*^'    "V^  the 
h?Ped  for.  the  evidence  of  thS.i?"l'''**"*=*=°^*ings 
faith  we  understand  that  t£i  rJ'*'^*'"-     ^^^'^-gh 
the  word  of  God.  so  that  th.  T^      "'^^''^  ^"""^^  hy 
were  not  made  of  things  whfch^o^^  ^^'^^  »'«  »«« 
.t  IS  only  by  faith  that  wfcan  b^ij^°  ^'SF^^'"    "^nce 
al.things  in  heaven  anreaAh  and  tL^?  ^°^  "^^**^d 
It  IS  faith  that  enables  ustnhJ-       ¥*'^*  even  exists, 
a  child,  that  the  miracles  of  fe  '^"*  ^  ^''"g'"  hore 
formed,  and  that  he  rtSLllilu}  ^"^  actually  per- 
faith  that  enabled  the  eariv  Ch?'.^'**^  *°  "^^-    f*  was 
confront  the  dominantTeL^u/rn '^     *<>  courageously 

day  and  generation,  an^d  to  fi  .Fn^t?*"'''?  °^  ^^^'"^ 
glorious  army  of  martyrs^  In  i  ^  *« /anks  of  the 
that  moves  missions. Tike  Liv?„a7"  ^^^^  '*  »  ^^^h 
the  dark  places  of  tKrthlL;^  *°"^*°  e°  ^"'ong 
enjoyment  and  every  coSwr/*^'"^*^^  ^'^"^  ever? 

knowledge  of  a  DiWne  Redei^'ff.?  ^""^  '^' 
heathen,  and  to  better  their  rS;f^-    .  *°  *^<^  degraded 
scarcely  necessary  to  say  [hfc^  <=?ndition.     It  is 
of  martyrs  amone  the  Hfc^f^i        r  .^'"  ^^  "<>  army 
cism  Cult,  and  thf  t  they  SenVn^  f'  "'?^*^'  C"*'^ 
to  lift  up  their  hapless  feCrf;''  T'  "o  misgiong  • 
ments  of  darknessTd  cVie,^"'"*^" /^^^^  their  environ- 
devotees  have  no  faith  in  anvtl,-?'^''f^"t'<=is'n 
and  they  are  certain!?  not  sS^t^.  k"'  *^"l««'ves; 
low-men  in  any  wayf  but  Sr  ^.     J*^"? ^*  *^<="- fel- 
mischief  in  their  power^fh?.    '^'^^^  ^^^^  all  the 
agnostic  or  rationSru„tlS"^^^^^^^  ^'  '^- 

have  the  ripest  scholarshio  of  rl^'*  ^^^  *''*""  to 


466 


El 


it.  ■' 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


univeSitk,  or  colS'^or  ./"-^r"  °'  Christian 

Their  power  to  S7heBihi."'°''!*l'  °^  «««'on. 
tions  they  have  wSJii  k      •  *  "  mainly  due  to  Bosi- 

defend  it!^   In  oSna^tve^lTi"^  'oJemn  promis?,  to 
would  scout  the  Wea  Sf  holZl"^  ''?  "**"  °^  »»°n°»r 
they  could  no  longe?  conscfe^t^"  '?  P?.''*i°"'  ^»«=" 
duties,  according  to  aLreem^i*       "'>'  discharge  the 
But  the  morality  o?mS,v«r"'  '^T'^**^  therewith, 
the  clerical  typclp^S^  ^''^y^^^,  religious  men  of 
of  ordinary  peSplJ^'^Th"  deriS  £•  "i  *»>5,«tandard 
not  appear  to  real  se  thL  tifr-       "'?**""  Antics  do 
world*^So  not  ha'Sse  ^51  thT^^^"?  ^'^°''  *»»<= 
instead,  directly  op^eTlttV   *«"^?"?S'  and  are. 
«me  way.  as  thV?aS  rw  1  Je  tL**'^J"»*'.  '"  ^^e 
sequence  of  their  teachina  fl     the  ocstructive  con- 

Moreover  they  are.  «  a  rufe  ™.'"°'"^'  -^V.^  ''''Po"- 
perts.  and  experts%^  a  „  '  ^,T  ?P*««  »*»  and  ex- 
are  proverbiaSy  la^k?^  in7ud;mST*"A  .^«'  ^"'t^- 
are  made  to  concede  the  S^  ^^*"  appeals 

the  Old  Testament  by  the  ISh!.  %^Tl  ^^^  t'^th  of 
critics  unhesitSgl7rif^^^^  these 

ground  that  the  insoired  »nl.fi  "'*?^P  ^^^"''  o°  the 
Christ,  himselff  w?r?  p^eiS?  ""^m^^'"''  ="^  «^« 

that  they.  them,elve7.aKar??hrh'^  l?"^;^"*'   *"^ 
case.    This  opinion  of  their  nLV      *""'  J"*^8res  in  the 

and knowledgerunsin themoff  "  'I'.P':"^'" competency 

the  four  voluSiheynTvK^^^ 

from  beginning  to  end      ?t  j,  ^  ''^^^^^P^dia  Biblica." 

and  ant^Christian  SL nV  '  °!1''*'  *  blasphemous 
chief  and  prindMl^n7?i!'°*° '  ''°^'  ^^t'  'ts  editor  in 
inconsistenTof  SS  deS"*°i  ,?""°*  «^^  ^^e  gross 
delights  to  parade  h,wffi^?i^  hterary  positions,  and 
possible  occasion!  a^"he  "  R^rT^K  r^^^'  ""W'^ 

»  The  Bible  and  Modern  Criticism,  p.  251. 


CONCLUSION.  ^^ 

destructive,  and.  therefore  S'.^^^^  '*  '»  ?"'«»/ 

evidence  on  which  al   true  Sl"  "  ^*  *<='"'=«  <>f 
when  judged  by  everi  tSt  thi J?'"*''''**'-    I"  f«ct, 
found  wanting/ln  the  tV„^''*'  *'*"  ***  «PPJ''«d.  it  i» 
pritic  i,  a  skilled  aSd  imo^Y  •'!,"'*  °^  ^^e  term  a 
•n  England  we  expectTfud 'e  i"  K^' "7  *^'  *^**  ^"« 
meaning  is  that  of  a  ha«h  examS^'     ^^  'e^ndary 
finder.    These  sceptiMl  cS.  i  f ""  *  ^°»*"«'  <"»"'»- 
category.    We  do  not  re1"rw».  *'°"^  *°  **>«  »*<=°nd 
of  true  criticism.    oJr  Srotest".^"'**'*"^^  '^»"'t» 
sumptions  of  a  criticism  whS^K-     *"*  *»*'"'*  t^e  as- 
and  which  is  ca"rXriJ'"""**'r**'"P"n<^'Pl^ 
therefore.  I  may  venture  to^  "k-°""^  methods.    If 
with  this  sumSi^lT  *?,^°'"^t"?  P"*=*'*=*l  <=°"nse 
one  be  browbeatS^  ^u^  5  Keli'el  T"/?-  't^  ^''  "° 
cism  attacks  upon  HaLL-  .^^  ^y  Higher  Criti- 
discredited   bSse  e^S*"!!-  ,  ^he  ^ble  is  not 
themselves  in  the  ChrS  r.    '*=^?'*fs,  who  shelter 
against  it." »  ^''"^tian  camp  of  faith,  have  turned 

?rslt'  o"f'&SJSr^rw'»^^^^     ^'  *h«  -hol- 
-s  absolutely  unfounded    il  tt™'    ^"*  ""is  claim 
eminent  scholars  who  wh^lv  ^-      '^'^  numbers  of 
The  scholarship  of  a«,oSm    "/^^*  *'*'»  t^^*^™- 
wm.  of  a  boundless  Sotin*  j*^  ^'™»"  rational- 
craving  after  an  unwh5hSom/"''/  ?'°''*'^  P«^"onal 
be  with  them;  burall  tie  ?h  ° k"'^^™*^ '"<i«ed 
adverse  to  them  anrfn,..!^    Christian  scholarship  is 

"I  have  turS'aglrsceS""'  '-S  *1^^'  ^°"^'*^n 
the  preface  to  his  wo?k  on  fS      '    T^  ^'''  ^"sey.  in 

own  weapons,  and^sed  r?d ^01^^^'*  ^t"'"''  "  *^^'> 
argument  of  a  falS^r;?.^    *^  agamst  the  would-be 

free  because  it  Se  Se'S  God.*^  t^''^}  ''^^'^ 
apparent  pre-eminence  of  Th?  S?!'  ^°'"*^-      The 

Th.  Bibte  „d  Moo™  Cri,ld,„.  pp.  ,„,  ,„. 


468 


THE  SUPREMACy  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


pUuding  .V„.  U  i„,^i„'v«'k"""  ="»"■•  of  "P- 


The  al.rmini"";p;;ad  oY'lJcS'*^""'*^' 
Clergy  of  the  EnalJ.J,  v«       •cepticism  among  the 

ing  the  past  twj*decad«  "S^^fT''*,  ^''"'^l^".  clur! 
their  wiicin.  under  the  cb^e^^'ji^'^y  d"«  to 
greater  icholarshio      tL«  i  *^     of  their  want  of 
their  pure  faith  in^ChSt^oT^  ''^"'*^  *°  ^^^er 
rationSism.  but  i?  IcS  thL^*"".f,"  ""**  ^"K'"'* 
themselves  to  its  banefuflJ^  ***'*L>'  '""-rendered 
cism  works/^ll  the  way  from  n-'"'.*"^  ?'«»'"  <^"^'- 
Wellhausen's.  may  now  befn^'T-  '  'I  ^''*^>'"*^'»  «nd 
many  of  the ir  cler^I.«      u"^  '"  '*»«  libraries  of 

fact/that  if  s„tKsome°o''''  ^°''n^"'  °^  ^^e 
Christian  to  accustom  hm^T;  ^^  *''*'"  **^^'  f^^  the 
study  in  which  a  oTvili  r?  ?  t  'y'***"  °f  ^'bhcal 

Higher  CritSm!a?r  have  alreadl"°  P'^"'  ^he 
Prodr  ',  n  point  of  fact  nf  J-^^  't*"'  "  "°t  the 
%hte...,  .nt.  but  of  German  S? '"lt'*"*"'>'  *="" 
tionalism.  which,  Hke  SrHux  f S  nr*^"*''"*'^'^  "- 
school  of  the  pMt  centurv  thlt^k  'T'"  scientific 
creed  so  largegr  on  remote  Crl  ^'!u  •'*'  'gnostic 

osophy.  has^u^sLS  "^^anew  the^an?'^?  P^"" 
arguments  of  Celsus  fA  n    ?^,\  the  anti-Chnstian 

(A.D.  270).  who  foulh^  so  hard^iThl  °^  ^'^J'^'^ 
old  Hellenic  Paganism  a^aiWfK  ^*  ranks  of  the 
tianity.  The  dStrS  *f'"'***^«  Progress  of  Chris- 
also  rest  WlvToon  tK  .*^^  ^'^^^^  Criticism  Cult 
Arian,  anfS  Csfe!  wV  ^  °J  '^'  G"°««^'  the 
afflicted  the  aneLt  Chrf  Jn  "A  T  '^^J  '°  *''"^' 
narrative  was  then  a»  n«  Church.     The  Mosaic 

dismissedrfable     The  Mot^^'l!!!"?  "^  ^^^'Sory,  or 
not  to  be  Mosa!c^o?k:^tTb^,^t^p-^^^^^^^^^^^^ 


CONCLUSION. 


469 

•nd  their  miracle.  weTeridicSed  in  *.  unauthentic, 
form.  In  the  case  clinch  TrnrSrJ  ^V  ^"'^^^ 
and  Daniel,  the  Hiriier  cS^^^^^^  *•  J°nah 

to-d-y,  runs  preciZl  J  «n  !k  "'^S®**  ^^  »«««k, 
empb^ed  in  threSr  c.n^"™?  1""  ••  ^"e 
the  Paean  and  oSIl      ««"»"""  of  Chriatianity  by 

delivered  from  the  cK!n  on^"**  ."^  t^'^Ofously 
or  heathen  camps  tS  U^."*  HV?""  *•»*  '"^del 
original  about X  doctSn  J  «r?i."^i'^t  ^^  "^^hing 
Cult  of  to-day  The^""!^^^  "'8^^  C"*'""" 
tially  disguised  wi?h  an  a^nU  y*"  °1**  'to^r  par- 
Cheyne.  and  his  H^hil  ?P?' *'.*"°"  ^^  n«w  piint. 
do  not  appear  to  reS[h.t;?"""  <=°nt«'nporaries, 
early  ChVStian  cCcrare  thn!/TT*^"'"  °f  the 
opened  by  the  Bibl^'^UonJro^^^^^^^^^  °°^''«- 

forget  that  a  supernatural  creed  whi^hV*^-    ^^^ 
upon  a  supernatural  foMnH/f:      ^     "  *'°**  "°*  «»* 
superstition".  ZX,  orete  p^ o^/f  S!\  *>"»  « 
where  reason  and  th#.  «•«.*-  ^        .     °'  *h®  sphere 
we  become  sofely  depe^Sent  on  ?^T  '''"  ^"•^"• 
revelation.     The  HiX  Si  °^•^^'*^  '"  ^  ^'V'"' 
position.    While  thiv  fLii   5    ^"'l'^*'^  *«*<=•«  this 
accredited  the  Old  fesSnf  ""lu^^*  '^e  Saviour 
they  are  bound  to  ScreJit  L^'w"  ^^""^  °^  G^''' 
whole  case  fails;  andlhis    hev  ^"^'"T' .°''  *h^'> 
possible  way.    lT,e  orthr^^w^  u^  *°,  ''^  "»  «very 

tjon  of  our^BlesSl  Jordt^'^tSrwih^^^^ 
tion  of  all  that  he  was  anH %!,-  1  *^  ^^'-  ^""  ''«a'«sa- 
all  that  God  had  rev;a?ed?„%K'^c^?P''^hensionof 
testified  of  him  he  had  „  inS  -^  ^"'Ptu'-es.  which 
descended  to  "he  ,oS  depthso'f  ITer:t-'^'''yj 
self-effacement.  (PhilippiaS  ii  g  flT^'^Tf  *1!^ 
kenosisof  the  Higher  CriticUmK^'.  l!  ^"^  ^"*  *he 
*'SHcr  i..ruicism  betokens  not  Divine 


m 


lit' 


M:l 


470    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

is  not  that  ?c  becLn  "an   and  ^"S^^^'^'O"-     ^t 
ministered  unto  but  to  m.nT!  '  5"**  .*=*•"*  "°t  *<>  be 
sank  to  the  tevel  of  aS^'oit''°°?'"^''"**^«h^ 
Not  that  whili  Inow/nrthat  the?«/r  .°V^'**  ^=y- 
things  into  his  handJ^alfd  th»f  l^^u'}"^  S'^«"  *" 
God  and  was  StoG^ih\^''^.,''°"'^  ^'""^ 
indeed;  but.  that  noVknoS?ng  i;re?htt.-   "l'""'"'^ 
contemporaries  his  mind  w2^  warped  Uvo' ^"^•'" 
and  Ignorance.     Such  is  th^^ZV-        by  prejudice 
Critics,  on  a  question  of  such  fr     "*  °i  ^^"^  "'S^^^^ 
ance  to  the  cLs«r  SLh  "^  iJ^^^^^St^^^^^^ 

Chnstum  Church   in  all  ar^°,L,-l       °'    *' 
WM  taught  by  the  LS  I«™7?  •'?'"'•  '"O-  *" 

They  accordingly  raisTa^i^^h,!??  '"  ''«"»««■•• 
subtle  form,  thfi^  h.?.?'  ' '"'",'"  '  "«"  "»«'  more 
in  the  old  Arta"h.  'T  r^  ?';  *"  «n>l>odied 
vinual^.at  .t^L" b"uVSchlis1  S?  h^BiS!?'.'  *"  " 

he^e"s;T„wfe:^.„t  S""'?'"^'"""  -•» 

Will  it  have  the  eff«?t?°dSL'  S^Z'  T!"' 

wJS'.t^,trr„"o?trd^*'^^^^^^^^^ 

<:loud    now    l^Lw'nv.,  !l     by-and-by  the  dark 

world  will  be  K  u|.  Td  the  So^'ofTt  "^''^''^' 
with  healine  in  his  wSo!      n       °    o^  R'&hteousness, 

^  The  Bible  and  M«,dem  Critic.«n.  pp.  ,5,_a66, 


"'^MK"^? 


CONCLUSION.  47, 

sibly  be  arnVedS !     Th.  n°M     ^°"*=t«on  "«  Pos- 

r«tmg  upon  solid  ground.    The  old  w,°6  ta^ 
S  r.^w'^t""'  ""^ '"  *«  '""^  of*'  Scriplu's  which 

Esrr:ut„2"^i..t-o?rh:S 

patriarchs,  m  the  touching  biography  of  Tosenh  1" 
he  Sojourn  in  Egypt  and  the^  Exodus  Som 
;  t  ^^lu^  °/  '^^  ^"^  ^'"'"'^  the  thunders  of  sI°S' 
of  ^fiarkVhe'r.M'^'T'"  ?""'S  ^  heavenly  cSS 
h  s  oredou,  hlno?  ^"^u'  ''"^'  '"  *he  shedding  of 
nis  precious  blood  upon  the  cross  to  form  an  everla^f 

w"fl  airSm/r  tV'^'"^'"^  °^  '""^  lostVumirrac  ; 
Td  fo  ce  Th.  »^  *°  "'  *S^'"  •"  •*«  °ld-«'"e  fulness 
fi?f  P  ?'  .  *'^  adverse  storm  now  blows  widely  over 
the  Protestant  world  -  much  more  widely  and  more 


47*    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  THE  BIBLE 
by-and-by  diMpoLT  m^    i?'">'  "»'  "»">>  wia 


INDEX. 


XVIII.:  a  snccessfnl  ruler,  nd. 
Aaron,  the  elder  brother  of  M,^ 
3041   aPDears  h*fnr«   dl l 


._«  w««  uroioerot  Moses. 

304;   appears  before  Pharaoh 

aS^^P*^-  y^i  his  deathT^ 

P"'n*'.^57J  condition  of  Babr- 
Wmiisdav,  258;  sketch^ 
5^»?'y^?«'{tn.eper«>nali^ 
»0K267  j  his  birth  at  Vr  aaii 
H.  '  "»  Jooniey  from  Ur  to 
Hmn  ad*;  Go/ calls  him  to 
"wgrate  to  land  of  Canaan 
a6s;  Christ  and  his  Apo«S 
vo^ch  for  his  true  pers^Jj 

^'^  'peculations  of  BufFon 
5jd  Kant.  Laplace,  etc.  ,ft  5 

'*LT.A'^/'if'.'''»'^'«*«d  from 

I*t :  they  fall  into  idolatry.  irT 

AMurbanipal.  King  of  A^Vn^: 

^Ji^"^  "iiscovered. ^Jlf  Ws' 
cruel  character,  322  (note). 
^5:^."u  Mytholo^  ii  Sony 
wth  that  of  Babylonia :  aS 
its  greatest  divinity,  ua 

Attacks     on     Old     1 
ftoleg.,  9; 

84;  what  Beroaus  has  to  sav 
hS^"s*'d'^'**''y''"'^«Ab4^ 
bX1„^*5'.  95 ;  religion  of 
Babylonia,  113;  people  not 
gnorantsavag^iin^oLda^ 
"f,!.Aj:cadian  civilisation  ahd 
poll  .c^  and  religious  conditbn, 
"Si  penod  of  Sargon  I.,  iiy 
bis  religious  reformJ,  118.     ^' 


Testament, 


'fei,-«.ed^ait??if,': 

feS  J^"1'  ''»!  »»o»  that 
Itt  H^*  fe^'^P*  itself  in  „" 
nf«l.  •'  S*^.***  "yths,  Hindoo 
mytha,    Persian    iyth.     ,8o- 

i£.i    '^*'**".«*»'7  of  the  Cre^ 

g£Sfavi-«-J2t 
«^""?o^lo'i^n- 

Biblical  Hutory:  how  he  Hiirher 
Cntict  write'it.  418;  they*d" 
dine  to  accept  the  BibliS 
•^^n?-point.^and  invent  oS 
^•.faiL.*"^'  *'9;  Wellhau. 
??J.»^.«»'»»»encement,  4,9; 
Christ  s  testimony  as  to  th^ 
true  personality  of  Abraham 
Isaac  and  Jaco'b,  whom  W^.' 
hausen  and  fcheyne  decl«eVo  be 
my  hs,  423.  424;  Wellhausen^ 

SterJ^.  *"**  'he  Hebrews 
foKI^  .4*5-427 ;  Guthe 
loiiows   in   his   steps   and    is 

British  and  Foreip,  Bible  So3ety 

a-hu  p'f'^V^ionoftK 
n  j'^f  •  ^'oleg.,  18. 

,61    '*     "^'  *^*'  P"«  "»»«»«», 

Cheyne,  Canon:  his  ideas  of  the 

t^«"«*''  !'»2''  *».*«  editor  ol 
that  most  heretical  and  perni- 

KM- J"^  "^u^*  EncycIoS 
Biblica,"  in  which  he  wntes  a 
jomt  article  with  WeKe* 


474 


INDEX. 


•how.   hinuelf  to  be  a  £[' 

•y?*!  30a ;  despite  hU  heretical 

Orford  profcMorahip  and  re- 
5»in.    a    clergyman    of    tht 


Uaher;    uble   of   thr^riS 
l«nwe„  the  Creation  i,/!5^ 


iTOv^.n^'*  S?"  1??'*'  '"decent  I 
«?!I!1  j**{..367;  his  apostasy 


Deism  described  by  Dr.  Clarlc 

jror^vw  c:r^'^rS,J^7i|»«J«e  o,  the  FJood.  the,  2«,.' 

3«^>  agnostic  and  blMphem^M       ^^1.  '"^'*^     the  '  ark'   iSd 
article  on  the  O^.^.!.^...""""  I     Jweaches      repentancT      «? 

»a"*tiv.  of  the  Deluge   "I- 


artide-^Te5"cS^t?7r 
&  ^'^^''  '7°)  ifetch  of 

CjUese  scriptures.  liJcVSl  'oth|; 

tttb^r^r^'  ^'^^^  'o 

''SS%°i^'^«»^-ches. 
Creation   and   eeoloffr    iR-   n.^ 

al5j^'ft.'^?''i"'*P««tI- 
ne,i^Lf*l''*»«?>P««'ationat  the 

S  Sf^JS  'li?^^  '^•"'ditSn' 
or  tiie  earth  before  the  Delude 

fh5'  '*T  F¥'»1  changesTn 
D^",„*^r5.!^!«-*«nVthe 


.   .vuioina   lert   behind  i» 

the  Defuge,  232;  its  story  bv 

the  DeiJ;  f^^^Aii.VJL'y^t "" 

It  an 
226, 


tC'n  ,'"»"•  zjo ;  l-heyne 
5iL^!'"ff''«;  Deluge  iS? 

Drive?  Pin    '  *™"  '"«''y.  "6. 
&^r."K'.^?i.'V-  "Intro. 


la; 


SS;«t:  "^r*  p*^"^  °f  ""^1 

Mual  heatlxfore  the  Deluge, 

Chronolop,  Sacred  and  Profane 
^55  hBtoncal  sketch  of  ChrS 
no'ogy  75;  had  no  fixed  epo^h 
>n  ancient  times  to  start  f?^ 

|i:^^>%sLrg,.^Yht 

Chronology  of  the  Oldf  Testa- 

S'Lr"*^.'90;  ofths patri 

ri'.^'f^'h^  Flood  in  ?abte 

Pi'^  of  the  patriarchs  after  the 

C  ^.  ?Sh°,^^".'"""  i"  table 
^.  93;  Babylonia  in  Abraham's 


ductionTo  /i'  ¥?'  '^  "Intro- 
OW  tJ?  *''«^terature  of  the 
yia  Teslament,"  381;  he  de! 

fine.  Its  character  aTdpuJios;? 
38a;  Deuteronomy  not  wriM^n 

by  Moses,  but  b/.ome^tfc^e, 
pmon  in  the  rei^  J'^mS?,!' 

b!^  the  authorahip  of  the 
of^th.°'H"u»'"»'««P«ri^ 
Of  the  Jewish  monarchy,  sj. 
though  &  text  shows  t&t  it 
d^ri.*"*"f "  »hortiy  after  the 

ciIjSi  th-;^;it'  ^'  ••«  »'°o 

written  nof  ^''™"'='«»  were 
wntten  not  eariier  than  350 
B.  c.  although  a  passage  In 
them  shows  tliat  wfththVex 

ITrJj""'  'fl'/hapter  the"; 
were  written  before  the  dl 
•Auction  of  the  temple,  40?: 

i^m^Z'  '^'^  HiKher'criti.' 
cism    statements    as    to    the 

;,Li?-  '   '•"proved  by  hydro- 
graphic  surveys.  48.  ' 


INDEX. 


Efflrpt,  religious  condition  of:  at 
first  monotheistic  but  after- 
jwrds  became  grossly  idola- 
trous.ips;tlie  gods  of  Egypt. 
106;  animal  worship.  io8;  iSafef 
in  a  future  sute  of  rewards 
»nd  punisiimenu  and  trial  of  the 

£«*%*''**'•■"'!  "n*:*™'  his- 
tory of  Egypt  m  great  confusion. 
7» .  modem  foigeries  of  iu  an- 
tiquities, 79;  period  of  its  first 
dynasty,  fo;  homer's  miscal- 
culations as  to  age  of  deposits 
«  Nile  mud  ra  the  DeltaTii  • 
Egypt  during  Dynasties  XVIIl! 
and  XIX. ;  ubleof  these  dy- 
nasties,  276.  ' 

^"l^^j"^  u^^  "'•  S«;  its  bio- 
logical  character  according  to 
Darwm  and  Spencer,  57;  it 
commences  with  the  exiltence 
of  previous  matter,  co;  the 
atomic  and  molecule  tleories! 

S^^^P^'kI?  "P''?"'^'"  ">«  Epi- 
curean phUosophy,  61 ;  Greek 
jeeptic:*!  thought  contains  all 
the  germs  of  modern  agnostic 
thought;  Darwin's  idle  specu- 
t}^5"*"  i?  *«  ""^n  of  man- 
lund,  64;  Huxley'sldeas  in  the 
•ame  direction,  6s ;  the  physical 

compared.  66;   existing   lower 
anim^  life  always  the  same,  67 : 
cave  discoveries  of  human  re! 
mama,  68;  the  idea  of  evolution 
not  a  modem  one.  still  remains 
unproved,  and  is  therefore  not 
an  wductive   science.  70;  the 
theory  of  evolution  thoronishly 
atheistic  m  its  character,  72 
Exodus,  the.  of  the  Hebrews  from 
Egypt.  300;    their  social  and 
religious     condition     at     that 
period.   301;    history   of    the 
Exodus,     303;      Moses'     and 
Aaron  s  dangerous  mission  to 
the  Pharaoh  Menepuh,  304;  the 


475 


Pharaoh  and  the  passage  of  the 

•ong  of  Moses.   314;  heathen 
proofs  of  the  Eioim.  31I 

^\'^\„^'V'-  *"  Canterbury. 
140,  his  opinion  of  the  ereat 

value  of  the  Bible.  Prolegfao 

hup.ct.,-eof,hcdegrad5icon: 

J;°"^' ««»«*' the  ChrUtiM 


°omv^*'  *««>wies  in  astron- 

^°h?in$ii5uon,T"°""'"'  "'^ 
tH'I*'  "'»?"'»tions  on  the  con- 
tent, of  chapters  VI..  VIL.  and 
oAi,:'  l^ '  "^o'^fo"' condition 
mJ^  ^'&"'  "*"°"*  of  the  an- 
Ii„ri7°'''''  i« :  what  Dr.  Ddl- 
.  I?f  ?*^  ""^il"  "**'  condition. 
'57;  contra?*  between  the  He- 

whar  S'?*'^^'»«    teaches.  161 

163.  what  Confuaanism  teaches. 
173.  the  teaching  of  the  Bible 
immeasurably  superior.  176. 
^°'°?y,.  h'storv  of.  28 ;  no  proof 
behmd  the  glacier  theory.*^  «^ 
practical  and  speculative  geoN 
cgy.  35;  CroIlVand  Thomp- 
sons amusing  speculations  as 
1°  ?«»'    »«c    of   earth.    38; 
what   Huiton    says   about    nJ 
traces  of  a  Jeginning  or  an  end. 
39;  guesses  as  to  the  condition 

r~„1:S"i'  '"u".'^*'*'  i  Lyell  as 
a  geologist,  42;  his  mistaken  esti- 
mate  as  to  Niagara  Falls,  43; 
Professor  Geikie  disagrees  with 
Lyell,  46 ;  what  the  cruUe  of  the 


Challenger  proved.  47;  Lyell's 
amusing  hypothesis  as  to  special 

?"^°n.  °*  i"'  animals.  51 ; 

Sir  William  Dawson  on  specu! 

lative  geology,  53. 
Giblx>n,  the  historian,  on  the  de- 

cadence  of  Rome.  145. 
Olaaer  theory  of  Agassis  founded 
on    Perraudin's    notions.    33- 


476 


INDEX 


SeiiCJl"   '^"^^'^  '^ 


'37.  its  moat  degradins   elel 
menti  the  worship  rfftf  .Sd^ 

de«  Aphrodite  ,,5  ^*So5l£ 
human  sacrifice.  ttTitmJl^ 

r^l  .i7'*"'''P    <»'    Venus    at 

toi.s^X?'""''"d"« 

Herschels,  the.  father  and  son. 
9^the.rsuccessasastrCmS 

"i?jil'  Criticism,  the:  leading 
exponents  of  the  cnlt^^ . 
wlut  Higher    Criticism  *i,eiS' 

ht%^f '  •*«'!?  **'•'  the  athe- 
on  SP'noza,  348;  Jean  Astrut 
r~I«'  '■""y*  narrative  of  tte 

!Sio!StaHS'rS,»^y| 
Infidel  schSS,%3S^«;:S^™^ 


Sf  the  m  k"^'^*  >  *'^e"hi£b 
w«iik!  "'«''?'  C"t'«».  354: 
wellhausen  their  Geman  ii- 

S?n''>«J.356;Ku™e""d^ 
finw  hu  amostlc  position,  w  ■ 
Cheyne  and  WeUhausen  on  the 

fSu«"£\^5''*'^"5^'^"the' 
"•'ure  of  their  criticism,  ifi^  • 

JaBiblicV'37i;thehSof 
,i;"Kf?.«*.tremeasth1?of 
the  Higher  Critics,  376;  modern 

Un.taria„Um,377;.i6r;^a'SuS 


"^J^  *«r-  D'-.  the  father  of 
Sir  Krands  Hincks  <rf  c.n. 

2!«'f»t.tlop:h?b2oSr; 
««»»   Assyriologtat  and   com^ 

52^!n*^*™"'  of  the  andew 
Assyrian  language,  247. 

hllw'    ^T*'    Keologist,    a8- 
his  ideas  of  geol^y,  ». 

Hwley  advocates  tffe  um  of  th* 
Bible  in  schools,  pJol^T  ac. 

"iSSt.'S;.'''''"--   ^1^  Of 
IsaA«LiT«s,  surrounded  by  idol.. 

S^e'^Vi«^'S'e1%'"-  '"• 
in  EffvT?   ia?'   *?*'.'  Sojourn 

trom^rV^^"'  *^*"'"» 
«n«!?o*r^  '  300;  are  not  pur- 

ti"tii!g'riSs^!r4s-,^':S 


ktagsof'EJ^l"!  "*^"    th« 
an<finfluea.*a8r  '^''•''"' 

Kant,  German  philosopher-  his 
K*5f°'y.°'!*'«  heavens,  2a 
bIS?e.X'"''***'>''-»edans' 

""s  ??iihe^c^jrirth: 

?t^SSon'S3 
£eTor"hSV^'*"«'fMoSZ! 

'^^?;eeteh-»^ 


INDEX. 


Urard.  Sir  Auten  Henry,  befint 

hit  emloratioM  in  the   £ut 

,  *45»  5i«  gw«t  aucceM,  246.       ' 

Lyelr.   Sir  Charle.:   hli  Siogra- 

pnyi  43;  for  further  particnjan. 

Me  under  Geology.  ^^ 

5J*J'"«Pv  Hyp*"*"  Witorian,  78. 

Mweptahl  the  Ph«r«oh  of  tie 
*Jtodu«,  became  the  colleague 
of  bia  father  Rameses  II.,  3< : 
became  sole  Pharaoh  twelve! 
jwe  afterwards,  and  continued 
t^  oppression  of  the  Hebrews. 
«0;  how  they  were  oppressed. ' 
«»7 ;  now  taxes  were  at  times 

^i'fi"*  '"  ^P*'  *88;   Me- 
neptah    ascended    the  throne 
'493  B-  c. ;  he  was  an  able  and 
orare  man  in  middle  life,  104  ; 
r1,  If'**'*  J^  "byans  ^e 
£,."'"•  J"l  **">*'    maritime 
nations  of  the  northern  Medi- 
terranean   who    had    invaded 
I^wer  Egypt,  30s ;  he  was  the 
greatest  o!  earthly  sovereigns 
when  Moses  and    Aaron  Ip- 
pe«red   before   him,   306:    he 
haughtdy  refuses  their-^mand 
to  let  the  children  of  Israel  hold 
a  feast  m  the  wilderness,  306 : 1 

^*  il^i™?"?  *>'  ">«  firstSom  ' 
to  all  the  land  of  Egypt  finally 
forces  him  to  give  Ks  consent, 
3M;  nw  heart  again  hardened 
by  God  and  he  pursues  the 
Hebrews  with  a  large  army,  310 : 
the   destruction  of  that  irmy 

and  himself,  313.  ' 

Mischief  done  the   Bible  by  its 

professed  friends,  Proleg.,  13. 
Mwibites  descended   from   lit- 

their  gods,  134. 
Mohammed :   sketch  of  his  life 

164;  extracts  from  his  Koran! 

107. 

Mohammedan  scriptures,  163. 

Moses,  birth  of,  293 ;  he  is  adopted 
!7  '■»«  P^'ncess  Thermouthis, 
the  half  sister  of  Rameses  II., 
»93 ;  he  is  guilty  of  man- 
slaughter, 294;lje  takes  refuge 
in  the  Desert  of  Sinai  and  mar- 
nes  the  daughter  of  the  Mid- 


477 

ianite  chief.  Ragnel.  39c ;  de- 
•cnpdon  of  his  Mw  honie,  297 ; 
■t  the  command  of  God  be  ai^ 
pears  before  Pharaoh,  305:  he 
fcads  the  Hebrews  thToSgi'the 
Red  Sea.  314;  his  song  of  tri- 
umph.  31 «;  drfeats  the  Amal- 
ekitM  and  leads  the  Hebrews 
to  Mount  Sinai,  336;  his  elo- 
quent  prayer  to    God  asking 
I     t:     '**  P?'**""  »•>«  rebellion  of 
fi"   'T>P'*'33a;  the  advance 
towards  the  Fand  of  Canaan. 
335!  ne  gives  his  final  charges 
andlnstrucHons  to  the  Hebrews. 
339:  his  death,  340. 

Nabonassar,  King  of  Babylon  : 
hu  epoch  7^7  b.  c,  87. 

wational  sins  beget  national  pun- 
ishmentt,  Proleg.,  10. 

Newcomb,  the  D'athematician,  on 
tne  nebular  theory,  23. 

Newton.  Sir  Isaac,  discoverer  of 
the  Law  of  Gravity,  8. 

Noah,  the  patriarch,  a  aian  of 
education  and  ability,  preaches 
repentance.  221;  the  Deluge 
takes  place  in  the  six  hundredth 
year  of  his  life,  232  ;  he  leaves 
the  ark,  225 ;  he  oflFers  a  sacri- 
nce  of  thankH>ffering  to  God 
for  his  escape  from  destruction, 
l^'.'.!^«xl  5>akes  a  covenant 
witn  bim  and  hu  posterity,  sea ; 
end  of  the  Noachic  period,  254. 

Persia,  andent  religion  of,  and 
appearance  of  Zoroaster,  121 : 
the  creed  tought  by  him.  121 
religiOM  changes  during  the 
reign  of  Xerxes.  132 ;  good  feel- 
nig  between  the  Jews  and 
Persians  and  historical  sketch 
of  the  Parsees.  121. 
■ '    if: 


Philistines,  sketch  of  i  their  gods. 
'34- 

Phoenicia,  religion  of.  128  ;  geog- 
raphy of  Phoenicia,  its  numer- 
ous colonies,  and  gods  and 
goddesses,  129;  the  cruel  and 
impure  character  of  iu  worship. 
130;  'ts  human  victims  youne 
and  old,  131.  '       * 


47« 


INDEX. 


Prolagomeiia,  pp.  ^  to  xl*  n«r 
intent  WUclM  M  the  MNe'te : 

S«  "iSSL*"  '»«".xli;  niSonS 

v«.o??fiS„rrt7th1 


Sdhmltd.1,  Re*.  Dr.  p,ttl,  wo- 


PtoJemy,    Alexandrian    philoeo- 

^•f*?"  "••  *'''^  king  of  Egyp. 

dit2%???i;f'*'"'''"««^- 

how  brick  waaSttde  in  f^;S' 

■erve  him,  287 ;  his  great  tern- 
pJe.  and  other  public  worS^ 
^i;  a  scribe  describes  th. 
condition  of  EgyJ^T  hi  dly! 
f9a ;  he  seeks  Si  life  of  Mosi 
for  slaying  the  Egyptian  ^ 
master,  295.  »/!"»«  wsk- 

**j"a  «'  Hennf.commencea 
explorationa  at  Nineveh.  24? 
h^s  lieutenant,  Hormuid  rSI' 

palace  of  Assurban  pal,  246  • 

gods  and  goddesses,  uj :  the 
character  of  its  reliiiotw'wo,' 

MS.    Dean    Farrar's    terrible 
picture  of  its  degraded  S 

toon  at  the  Christian  era,  146  • 
decadence  of  its  literature  a'nd' 

^',»^  •o*'**"''**'''"  of  its 
•enate  and  people  generally, 
149;  cruel  character  of  ibi 
amusemente,  152. 


5S    '■     cuneiform    tiblet 

eriS^ifvi*"''  2^''  »"•  «>««»^ 
eriea  at  Ninereh,  and  his  death. 

"?il^iviJl?te%h»: 

fSj^Sr^t^ftjs 
Sait^Xifi^ 

3^forWhe.«odSoinio^ 

^"^.k'.  '•«•«»«•  fa  Egypt. 
269;  their  rapid  increasT^ 
numbers,  270;  sketch  of  the 

«y    V  _?• .  commencement. 

A IX..  284;  oppression  bf  the 

K"*-  ,«86;   their   Exodw 
trom  Egypt,  30a 

bumming  up  the  evidence,  4^. 

astronomy  and  the  Bible,  4«. 

geotegy   and   the    Bible.  4^! 

evolntfon     not     an    InductlJe 

•aence438;luchar«:ter"4£! 
chronology  and  the  Bible  4X5' 

xVIt'''^**/*?  Chapters  vf^ro' 
Hiahi;^'!.-*''*  PO"«on  of  the 

^ne  history  sustains  the  Old 
2^!?*!{""*' 144;  how  prophet 


rt- 

■o> 

I. 

o; 

Us 

I*. 

»• 

«T 

■^ 

.t 


INDEX 


Wfber  Critfctam  Cult,  iS- 
£??^  *■«?«"'•  •inortlc  opin! 
•«w,  357;  draw,  lu,  nnfavor- 
•ble  pletm  of  himMlf  in  the 


479 


prolefomena  to  hit  "Hiefory 

Jli  k   "*T=  *!P«"»  Biblica," 
^;  tae  no  fait£  in  the  ineplHt- 

ndicnlet  the  Pentateuch.  361 1 

BibliaUhiator]r,4i9. 


ZoKOAiTBK,     Persian 
nfonner,  lai. 


religiooa 


THE  HISTORY  OF  CANADA. 

FROM   THE   EARLIEST  PERIOD  TO 
THE  PRESENT  TIME. 


'«   tw  ta.^   ocu^  ^,„„    wb.Untl.Uy  b«»d  to  cloth. 
Pftet,  $4.00. 


By  J.  MERCIER    McMULLEN, 

SpMuUtlyo  Sciweo.  Ronoto  Anciont  Hittory 
•n*  th.  Higher  Crltteltm."  ote. 

'pHIS  if  the  only  complete  hUtory  of  Ciuda  in  exi>t- 
*  ence.  It  wiU  be  found  an  invduable  work  of  reference, 
•nd  wpphe.  .  va.t  «nount  of  informaUon  ..  to  Canadian 
h-toty.  .ociaUy  «,d  poIiticaDy.  derivable  ftom  no  other 
•ouice.  It  ha.  a  full  Index  and  paged  Table  of  Content^ 
1  Vl.  I  "'■*'*~*  "  •"y  •»  P*«^We.  No  Ubrary 
P«bl»hed  pnce  and  thirty-two  cents  for  postage,  to  any  ad- 

.dd««ed  to  Euow.  Smith,  EoobeUer,  Ogdensburg,  N.  Y., 
»d  Canadum  order.  addre««d  to  McMullin  &  Co.,  Brock- 

'^•nv^t'T"'^P'°"P*'^  •"*»**«* »°-  Orden  in  England 
wjn  be  filled  by  Sakpsok  Ix)w,  Makston  &  Co,  Publisher, 
Fleet  St.  London.  The  work  has  been  very  favorably  no- 
ticed  by  leading  English  and  Canadian  newspapers,  a  few 
extracts  from  which  are  appended. 

1.  J^«?*"  '"  "  £?•'"'*'  •*y'*-    ''•'  ="«"•»'  ••*»«<«y  of  this  countrv  th.t 


THE  HISTORY  OP  CANaha 

-COmrgS^^    ^*'^"^'»»'»*«»»»««wa  for.  long  tin,. 

wtU  prints,  and  l,o«Kl,.nd  we  "3!^i.''L^•*^«^    Th.  wort  to 
/».«*iV*«  GuJ^        «>«pei««Uon  topubltoli.r  Md.uthor.-i 

.hi2*.;S;1SfJ:^:j>r  J^^  of  Which  . 

known  dtocovery   by   EuropMn!   to  *h?^     <iown  from  the  first 
iV#»i»w  G.««r.  *"«Pe^   to  the   date   of  pubUction— 

We  regard  it  aa  a  valoable  addition  »»  .k    ii^ 
•    •    .    ■"»  book  ihonldTi,«^^Sr.h^,Ji:'^"«<^  Canada. 
CarMfm  J'iac*  H*raU.       *  "P""  "»"  "«•»«•  of  erery  Canadian.  - 

folU;Sc'r£\':^;L"irrtsibV-'^^^^^  <"  '- 

on  a  tabject  which  .hould  be  of  ^m^Tm^tf^"''  "*'  P*P"'"  'o™. 
-  Prucolt  T*Ugrapk.  "^  "*  importance  to  every  Canadian. 

boolc.-/W^  ^j;:;^;.     "'^*"'  """"•  ""  "ceedingly^.,  JtJ,' 


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